Strange Kismet
by MissWorded
Summary: - REBOOTED ELSEWHERE. -Sasuke: betrayed by the person closest to him. Naruto: hated for reasons beyond his control. Hinata: victim of kidnapping and torture. All three suffer from psychological damage and major disillusionment. Is this really Konoha's new team of heroes? AU.
1. looking forward

Hello, y'all, and welcome to mah new story! Don't worry about Prodigals, I'm definitely not abandoning it - in fact, the latest chapter is underway right now - I just need another creative outlet that's a bit different from Prodigals.

Disclaimer is in my profile, should you not realize that if I did indeed own Naruto, I would not be on , writing fanfiction... I would be busy giving Hinata more manga time.

* * *

**A Strange Kismet**

_Chapter One : Looking Forward_

* * *

Iruka straightened his chuunin vest a little nervously. What could have the Hokage calling on him on such short notice? That never tended to be enjoyable business. He had mentioned something about the Hyuuga, which probably made it doubly unpleasant. He raised his hand, poised to knock, when he was interrupted.

"Come on in, Iruka."

The chuunin shook his head. On some days, it seemed as though "The Professor" knew everything, or at least damn near close. He stepped inside.

"Hokage-sama."

"Hello again, Iruka. I'm sorry to tell you that this year's genin teams have been rearranged yet again."

Iruka winced visibly. "Hokage-sama, I don't mean to be rude, but this is the third time we've had this conversation and I don't think the jounin sensei will be very pleased…"

"Feh, I'm at the top of the food chain, what are they going to do about it? Now, down to business. Do you recall the Kumo Incident from eight years ago?"

It certainly wasn't hard to recall the war that the Hyuuga had almost instigated when they found their heir had been kidnapped. The girl was still MIA as far as most people were concerned. Iruka had a sneaking suspicion that was about to change.

"The Hyuuga girl was recently rediscovered," said the Hokage solemnly.

_Bingo! Am I good or what? _"That's wonderful," said Iruka with a smile. It suddenly dropped off his face. "But… is she alright?"

Iruka had always had a great compassion for children, even those he didn't know very well. Something in Sarutobi's face told him that her story was not a pleasant one.

"A jounin found her curled up inside a self-made hole in a pouring rain. She had clear signs of physical torture and perhaps scientific experimentation when examined by our medic-nin. However, she is polite to fault if quiet and mostly keeps to herself. Not to mention her ninja skills are very well-rounded. How that happened is still a mystery. But I need to put her on a team."

"If I may be so forward –"

"Yes, I will tell you why. This girl has seen too many things in her life already, as anyone can tell simply by looking at her. Now, the Main Family of the Hyuuga has rejected her because the secrets of the Byakugan may have been revealed during her stay in Kumogakure. Forcing her to live a normal life like a regular citizen will only end in failure, perhaps tragedy. She could lose her mind, quite literally, if subjected to the quiet life.

"She is a shinobi." Sarutobi's smile was barely bittersweet. "If we don't let her be a ninja, what else can she be? Now, I will show you the new order of teams."

There was a momentary pause as Iruka read over the lists – again. "Hokage-sama, saddling such instructors with those genin could prove a fatal combination! We could lose jounin and three possible powerful assets to the village! And they're still just kids –"

"I am the Hokage, Iruka. I have made the decision is feel is the best." An edge of authority entered his voice. "Do you wish to dispute the matter?"

Iruka closed his eyes and sighed resignedly.

"No, Hokage-sama. Not at all. I will inform the sensei of this change." Sarutobi smiled.

"Thank you. That is all."

-

Uzumaki Naruto was bored.

He had once played a great number of pranks on Iruka and his other chuunin teachers… but it soon proved a waste of time. It was simply too easy. So easy that it had become extremely boring. Instead, he spent his class periods in the dark recesses of his mind, chatting with the one thing that didn't seem to waste his time.

_Yo, Kyuu-chan. _

_**MORTAL WORM. **_

Yes, Naruto knew that the Kyuubi had been sealed inside him. He also knew that was the reason he had been failed by his chuunin instructors two years in a row. But this year was different, because he had actually made an effort and hadn't failed.

"Hn. You actually passed dobe?"

Naruto ignored his Uchiha rival and went to sit down. As soon as they were put on teams, he wouldn't have to see that bastard anymore. Besides, he knew that if he revealed his abilities, he could beat Sasuke no problem. Midnight training sessions with the Kyuubi could do that to a person. The blonde settled in as Iruka began to read off the teams.

"… Team 3, Akemi, Benjiro, and Emihiro; jounin instructor: Mitsuomi Daisuke… Team 6, Chiasa, Rando, and Mikomi; jounin instructor: Otuku Yuki… Team 8, Kiba, Sakura, and Shino; jounin instructor: Yuuhi Kurenai… Team 10, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino –"

The blonde girl screeched her disappointment. Iruka suppressed his temper. "Jounin instructor: Sarutobi Asuma. Those will be the teams for this year."

One girl raised her hand, waving it back and forth to get his attention. "Excuse me, Iruka-sensei!"

He sighed. "Sakura, I am well aware that Sasuke's name was not called. I was about to ask both him and Naruto to come up to my desk."

Both boys complied while Sakura looked embarrassed.

Naruto suspected that he was not going to like what he was told. And seeing as him and Sasuke were the only two people left without a team, things weren't looking too good for them _not _being on a team together.

"You two. Come with me, please." Iruka led them out of the room and down the hall towards a classroom that was not being used until later that day. Iruka slid the door open and beckoned them inside.

A girl was sitting there. She was sitting silently in a desk waiting for them, neatly-folded hands covered by black gloves. Under a sleeveless robe of silver-grey that reached to hips, she wore black pants to just below her knees and black shirt to her elbows, a mesh shirt visible underneath. On all her wrists and ankles were identical pewter bracelets that looked heavy. A holster was tied to her right leg and a belt around her waist was clearly made for holding scrolls. But the most noticeable feature about her was her face. While one half was pale, smooth, and perfect, prettily framed by a lock of dark indigo hair, the other was covered by an overlarge black eye patch.

When she opened her eye, the two boys started. _**UNLESS I'M MISTAKEN, THAT WOULD BE THE BYAKUGAN. THE GIRL MUST BE A HYUUGA. **_

_But there are no Hyuuga our age… unless she's – _

_**YES. THE ONE WHO WAS KIDNAPPED YEARS AGO. **_

There was a moment of silence in which Naruto waited for something more… along the lines of 'she seems weak' or 'the gene pool of your generation ain't lookin' so good'. Nothing came.

_What? That's it? No snippy comments? _

_**SHE HAS AN INTRIUGING AURA. **_

Naruto tuned the demon out for now to grin darkly at the girl, showing off his canines. "Hiya. Uzumaki Naruto's the name, don't wear it out."

"Uchiha Sasuke." She nodded to both of them, but didn't speak.

"This is Hinata, boys," said Iruka, smiling at the girl kindly. "She'll be the third member of your team." Naruto protested immediately.

"I'm on a team with _Sasuke_?! Iruka-sensei, you've GOT to be kidding me!"

"I have to object, Iruka-sensei," said Sasuke, finally showing some interest. "We don't even know her, and it doesn't seem as though she had to pass any examinations to get here. Also, why Naruto?" He didn't look too pleased. But then again, he rarely did look pleased about anything.

The girl did nothing, except shift her lone eye to rest on Sasuke.

"I can assure you, Sasuke, the Hokage knows what he's doing. If he thought that she would disadvantage you or your team in some way, she wouldn't be here. As for 'why Naruto', the highest and lowest student are traditionally paired with one another, in order to balance teams properly. Now!" said the chuunin, trying to break the tense atmosphere. "Time to go back to the classroom. You have to wait for your jounin sensei."

Neither boy thought to ask who their sensei was.

-

Anko signed.

"_You know of Orochimaru's wish to gain immortality."_

_She snorted inwardly. _

"_Yes, sir." _

"_His scheme, in attempting to copy all of the jutsu in the world, is to snag an Uchiha. Since one is clearly out of his league, he will probably be headed toward our own Avenger." _

_She didn't like where this was going. She really didn't. "Sir?"_

"_I want you to counsel him and his genin team. You and Kakashi will be co-instructors."_

"_No offense, Hokage-sama… but are you losing it?! Please sir, you do know who I am, right? Mitarashi Anko? Crazy chick?"_

"_Of course I know who are. That's the reason I'm asking you. He will be after Sasuke, and the only one who knows enough about him to prepare them –"_

"_- is me. I get it, sir."_

Life sucked. Three brats, including that arrogant Uchiha brat. Brat, brat, brat. She shuddered.

What would become of her? Mitarashi Anko, babysitter…

-

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata waited patiently for their instructor.

Or as patiently as one could wait after three hours. All three were immersed in an awkward silence. Hinata, choosing to budget her time, observed her two new teammates.

Both were troubled people, she could tell. She could relate, in fact. The proud Uchiha had the all-consuming fire of revenge in his eyes, a burning need to kill someone. He would get into trouble unless someone monitored him carefully.

The other boy, the blonde one, was something of a mystery to her. She could tell he was hiding something, and his manner was as shady as the Uchiha's own. But despite his dark clothes – a dark red jumpsuit with burnt orange/black details and a black shirt underneath – bestial, bewhiskered face and forebodingly cynical attitude, his bright blue eyes were very open to her. He was determined. He was determined to do… something. He wanted respect, of that much she was sure.

She could understand that. Back home –

_No, _Hinata told her brutally. _That place is not your home. That place means only death. That place means they will use you. _

But what was this place? This village where the sun was always shining brightly, people looked you in the eye as you passed and possibly said hello? Everyone was always so cheerful and happy, as if unaware of life's greater evils. It was so unlike the place she had previously lived, where the clouds were always present, blocking any form of hope. But was here any better? Or was it worse, even more evil, a creeping, subtler malevolence?

Look! They had told her upon her arrival. This is your home. Look, see these people? They have your eyes. You are family. Now see this school? You'll grow up and be a ninja, okay? And trust. You have to trust these people with your life. You can _trust _us. We're the good guys. Trust, trust, trust.

Trust? In her experience, trusting people only led to being treated like an object, or painful betrayal, or someone's death. Family? What kind of family rejected her for something she couldn't control (and hadn't particularly enjoyed, for that matter)? That was no family. Even a girl who had never truly known a family could tell that much. As for the team… well, she'd have to wait and see.

Her mind snapped to attention when the door slid open. But, much to her confusion, there were two people as opposed to one, and they were both arguing heatedly under their breath. Her hearing was excellent and so she caught some of their conversation.

"-tell me what I should do with him, we're 'sharing', remember-?"

"-bullshit and you know it, his chakra is completely unpredictable -"

"-naturally favor him, we both know it, that's just one of the reasons I'm here -"

"-wildcard, we don't really know her abilities so we can't push her too hard –"

After a few more long moments in conflict, they both looked at each, one with anger, one with deadpan annoyance.

"Fine," they muttered in unison. Clearing her throat, the woman wearing little more than a mesh suit, a miniskirt, and trench coat spoke first.

"Hey there, Genin Team Alpha, and welcome to great wide world of ninjahood. I'm Mitarashi Anko and, along with this idiot here, I'll be your jounin instructor. Any questions?"

Naruto spoke up. "Who's the idiot?"

"I am Hatake Kakashi," replied the masked man. "For further briefing, meet us up on the roof."

-

The atmosphere was, once again, uncomfortable.

While Kakashi, Sasuke, and Hinata seemed unaffected by this, Anko was tapping her foot, irritated and Naruto began to look restless.

"I think introductions would do us some good. Tell us about your likes, dislikes, dreams and stuff like that," said Anko suddenly. "The shrimpy one, Blondie, you go first."

He scowled at her for the nickname. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I will be Hokage someday, the best one ever! It's not so much a dream as it is an eventuality," he said with a grin. "I like ramen. Scratch that, I love ramen, especially if it's made by Teuchi-san of Ichiraku! I also like training and getting stronger. I dislike how long cup ramen takes the cook and bastards like Sasuke here who think they're hot shit. I don't have any dreams, and that's because they're all going to come true some day. Like I said, eventualities."

Hinata had slammed the nail on the head with that one. What could give one more respect than being the most powerful ninja in the village?

"All right Pretty Boy, now it's your turn."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like much, but I dislike a lot of things. My ambition is to kill a certain man."

Again, right on target. Hinata was glad she had picked up that particular skill. People could be easy to read, if you knew what to look for.

"C'mon girl." All of them listened attentively. The mysterious girl had yet to open her mouth at all.

"I am Hinata." Her voice was soft and melodious. Even the two jounin had to strain to hear it.

"I like being free. I dislike people who challenge that freedom. I don't really have any dreams..."

_Freedom… that's a pretty broad tag, _thought Kakashi. _What happened to this girl? _

"You already know my name. My likes and dislikes are none of your business, really. And as for my dreams…I don't care to share them with you."

"Anko's the name, and it's just Anko, no sensei. I LOVE dango and kicking butt, I HATE sneaky assholes with no regard for their village or a basic moral code. My dream… well, dreaming is a bunch of sappy shit I don't really care for. But anyway. Let's get down to the nitty-gritty of it, shall we?

"Usually… there would be another test to see if you are ready for the real world… but the Hokage had thought it best that you stay out of the Academy, all three of you. Team Alpha is a special group, in case you haven't guessed already.

"So! Tomorrow, we shall convene again on Training Ground 13 at seven. That's seven o'clock AM _sharp _Kakashi, do you hear me? Good! Now, off with you."

-

Hinata walked to the small, apartment-like house the Hokage had set up for her on silent feet.

"_I know that your family has expressed their displeasure at your presence, but don't worry too much. We've already got two other genin in your graduating class living alone. It's not so bad and as I understand it, you like privacy."_

That she did. She knew that even if the Hyuuga had welcomed her into their home with open arms, she would be uneasy. Hinata had been, from the earliest she could remember, hypersensitive to being watched, and those eyes could watch her every movement. Anyway, the house was a decent size and fully furnished. It was certainly not a bad arrangement for her.

So the whole family reunion thing had been a bust. Oh well. The concept of a team might actually work out. Her teammates were strong, and would push her to be stronger by challenging her. Her sensei seemed – okay. They were competent at the very least, and she could sense they were both strong ninja. Not to mention Naruto was pretty cute…

As she lay down to sleep, a small smile curling her lips, Hinata realized it was the first time in a long time she was looking forward to tomorrow.

* * *

You likey? That lil button is calling your name!

Reviews mean faster updates. And that's proven scientific fact.


	2. of spandex and fools

Hmm... one reviewer commented on my usage of the word 'kismet', meaning fate. If anybody else is confused, don't hesitate to ask me.

Disclaimer is in profile.

* * *

**Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Two: Of Spandex and Fools_

* * *

When Naruto realized that he was just waking up at five minutes to seven, he panicked.

_Craaaaap! I'm gonna be late and that Anko chick is gonna __EAT ME__! _

_**AS DELICIOUS AS THAT SOUNDS, I'M SURE NO HUMAN IN THIS VILLAGE COULD BE THAT SADISTIC. A PITY. **_

_Haha, laugh it up fuzzball… _

Much to his delight, Anko wasn't even there when he arrived, though Hinata and Sasuke were. He wasn't sure how late he needed to be to constitute a punishment from her… but from the way she'd looked at Kakashi when she specifically ground out a time for them to meet, he didn't want to know. Ever.

His delight soon turned to annoyance when neither Anko nor Kakashi showed up for another half hour. Sasuke looked similarly irritated, though he hid it better. Just before Naruto could start swearing obscenely, something leapt out of nowhere.

"HELLO, YOUTHFUL STUDENTS!"

"Aaaarggh!" Naruto tipped over unceremoniously. "What the –"

Standing before them was a sight that could only be described one way – tragic, as bright green spandex body suits should be considered in any situation. Naruto found he couldn't focus.

_The eyebrows… the haircut… that outfit… eyebrows… sparkly teeth… EYEBROWS… __**GAH!**_

"I see my hip rival Kakashi has taken you under his wing! Never fear, for I am MAITO GAI!"

_Ting! _His white, wide smile glimmered in the sunlight.

Sasuke looked disbelieving. _Could this … thing… be a ninja?_

Involuntarily, Hinata found her lips twitching upward. _He is… funny. _

"And who might you youthful three be?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hinata," Naruto said in reply, still feeling overwhelmed as he pointed to each of them in turn.

"EXCELLENT! These are my own passionate young hatchlings, Tenten, Rock Lee, and Hyuuga Neji!"

The smile that had been dawning on Hinata's face instantaneously curled up and died. Rock Lee was a carbon copy of the odd jounin standing before her and Tenten seemed nice enough. But Hyuuga Neji was haughty. He was arrogant about his skills and his heritage, it was clear in the way he carried himself. And he was glaring at her. Or was that just his natural look? Hinata couldn't figure it out.

He also seemed… familiar.

"_Don't hide behind me, Hinata," whispered the tall man sternly. "Look at your cousin." _

Neji nodded to them, contempt curling his upper lip. Naruto and Sasuke immediately glared back, hyperconscious of his attitude and how he felt about them in particular.

"Where _is _your sensei?!" Gai asked them, aghast at his rival's absence. "Kakashi has once again attempted to stain the wondrous youths of Konoha! Never fear, little genin, we shall make you into capable ninja yet!"

Hinata's two teammates switched their scowls to Gai.

'_Little genin'?! _

'_Capable ninja'?_

"Let's haaaaaave… a SPAR! We'll have little faux matches so we, as the elder, more experienced ninja, can gauge your skills!" Gai ruffled Sasuke's hair fondly. "Oh, the springtime of youth!"

The green-clad man completely missed the death glare, though they figured that must be normal because Neji was on his team and that didn't affect him at all. Gai took his team aside and began to explain the exercises they would be doing with the rookie genin. Team Alpha fell back, unsure.

Naruto had a look on his face akin to pouting. "You've got to be kidding me! This guy's a complete nut job."

Sasuke's customary glower had deepened considerably. "Not to mention he insinuated at our ineptitude."

"I suppose his thoughts are logical, since his own team is out of the Academy with actual experience in the field. He believes that our own skills must be below their own."

It was probably the longest sentence she would say all day, but that wasn't why the boys stared at Hinata. She raised an eyebrow.

"Can you prove them wrong?"

Suddenly, the tension disappeared. Naruto grinned.

"Well, when you put it _that_ way…"

* * *

The first match up was Sasuke versus Tenten. It was a close one. Tenten was at first reluctant to go all out on her younger peer; but as soon as she discovered that he was quite a proficient younger peer, it was too late and Sasuke already had the upper hand. It ended soon after that, when Sasuke's taijutsu got inside her cocoon of pointy objects and gave a hefty blow to her stomach. Gai called it a tie because though Tenten was out cold, Sasuke was pinned to a tree by several kunai, shuriken, and senbon, her last-ditch reflex effort.

Next to go were Naruto and Lee. Naruto ended up losing, if only because of Lee's speed. The blonde was actually quite fast; but compared to Lee, he was average. Hinata suspected (due to her extra-sensory chakra perceptiveness and ability to read into body movement) that he was holding something back. He must've thought it unwise to expose his true talents to such – "unorthodox" people.

Hinata had suspected that she would have to fight Neji. Not only was he looking at her like he was itching to battle, but he had probably been requested by the Hyuuga clan to find out if she still had some sort of use or if they should just cut their losses completely. Her eye narrowed calculatingly.

From what Tenten had told her during the Lee-Naruto fight after reviving, Neji was the greatest genius the Hyuuga had seen in a century. He had learned attacks and Jyuuken moves that only Main House people should know. As far as it was known, his belief in the injustice of the Main House-Branch House system was what pushed him to prove himself superior. Otherwise, his life seemed pretty peachy – both parents living, both very supportive of him and what he was doing, and heir to the Branch house.

Reflecting on her life and what she had seen of others, Hinata thought that this wasn't such a bad deal until she realized the restrictions placed on the Branch House members. It was like being in a cage, except they could never get out. Ever.

"_Neji calls the Branch 'caged birds'," Tenten whispered quietly to Hinata. She glanced furtively around to make sure Neji was thoroughly engrossed in his scowling match with Sasuke. "They are essentially owned by the Main House. They decided when to eat, when to sleep, when to fight, how to fight."_

"So, Hinata-sama," drawled Neji. "We meet again."

She was taken aback by this title. Her? A lady? "I beg your pardon?"

He smirked. "Still as incompetent as ever, I see."

That she did not appreciate. Holding her stance badly on purpose, Hinata intended to lure Neji into a trap of laziness she knew he couldn't resist. So the Hyuuga were known for their taijutsu. Then Neji would know his basic forms inside and out. By deliberately making holes in her fighting style, she could effectively control his actions.

What she didn't account for was the chakra based attacks that came with the Jyuuken style. Veins flaring around his eyes, he could easily pinpoint the various spots on the body susceptible to chakra manipulation. So even when Hinata managed to stumble "accidentally" away from an attack, a part of it usually got her. Finally, Neji dropped the pretense of "gauging her abilities" and attacked her, throwing strike after invisible strike to areas that would incapacitate her easily.

With one final blow, she skidded across the clearing, landing face down. Neji deactivated his Byakugan, striding over to her with the smug look she had come to hate with passion in a just a few short minutes.

"Just as I suspected. You were weak enough to be captured by Kumo. You are even weaker without the Jyuuken to aid you. This exercise is a complete waste of time."

Sasuke's idealizations of the girl as an unknown and perhaps capable teammate were ruined. While she certainly gave off a mysterious and seemingly powerful presence, real life obviously couldn't match up to whatever he had conjured up in his mind. He turned away, disinterested. _Hmph. Another Naruto. _

Naruto on the other hand, felt oddly supportive of the fallen girl. He knew how humiliating and degrading it was not only to lose, but to lose in front of a group of people. He cheered her on silently. _Get up, Hinata-chan! You can still do it! _

"I don't believe Hiashi-sama will be terribly surprised by my findings. You never did show much –"

WHAM.

Hinata leapt up, throwing a punching-kicking combo to his stomach that even Lee had trouble following. Leaping up into the air, she twirled gracefully before slamming the heel of her foot viciously into his cheek. It was his turn to fly – _A caged __**bird**__, hm, Neji-san?_ – across the clearing and knock into a tree unceremoniously. But before he could slide to the ground, unconscious, several senbon whizzed out of nowhere to pin him there by the collar of his shirt as though for scientific study.

Silence. And then:

"No. Freakin. WAY!" Tenten shrieked. "You beat _Neji!_"

Hinata turned to her with little interest and shrugged.

"HINATA-SAN!" Lee suddenly roared. "CLEARLY, BY THE POWER OF HARD WORK AND YOUR PASSIONATE YOUTHFULNESS, YOU HAVE DEFEATED MY RIVAL!"

Her lips twitched again in her almost-smile. "That's why I would never want to be a genius," she told him. "Because once somebody beats me at what I am best at, there's only one place for me to go."

"Down," completed Naruto with a smirk. He was really beginning to like this girl. She nodded to him.

"Being weak is almost like an advantage. If you fall down a lot, you learn how to get back up again. Being a genius… being isolated at your level… is a poor way to train. It's a poor way to learn, and to be a ninja." Hinata looked deep in thought, as if reflecting on a personal experience. She seemed to be speaking her thoughts out loud rather than talking to any of them.

"But there's another kind of genius, Hinata-san!" said Gai pompously. "A genius of hard work, like Lee here!"

"Gai-sensei, you have sincerely honored me!" said Lee, tears pouring down his face.

"Lee, you are truly deserved of such praise!" They began to hug each other while crying fiercely.

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

Hinata looked at them oddly. "Are they…"

"-always like that?" Tenten answered her. "Yeah, pretty much."

"How do you –"

"Go on missions? Talk to other teams? Tune them out? Generally function as one consistent unit? It takes a lot of practice."

"…oh."

"Hinata-san, that was awesome!" said Naruto, grinning. Sasuke nodded to her, his own form of congratulations.

She blushed slightly. It was much easier for her to be insulted than praised; this was something of an overload. "Thank you."

"How'd ya do it?" asked the blonde excitedly. "I heard that Neji was the number one student in his class last year!"

"He could have won, if he hadn't underestimated me," she replied. "I have no doubts his power is greater than mine. His arrogance was his downfall."

"HINATA-SAN!" Gai had leapt out of nowhere, landing in front of her in a pounce-like motion before straightening up abruptly. His face suddenly turned serious. "I must ask you how you were able to overcome the Jyuuken attacks."

"I have… very good control over my chakra system," said Hinata. "Chakra-based attacks like those I can shake off with a simple meditative exercise." She hesitated before adding, "My chakra coils are very different than most people's."

He didn't press her any further. Instead, he chose to beam at all three new genin, teeth twinkling.

"ALRIGHT! Then we shall continue to train the flames of your youth!"

* * *

The rest of the day had been spent doing training exercises, testing their limits, and generally exhausting themselves under the watchful eye of Maito Gai. While the man was – eccentric, he was also an excellent teacher, and quickly picked out the flaws in their respective taijutsu styles, as well as giving them tips as to how to incorporate ninjutsu and genjutsu into the fighting disciplines that they favored.

But Team Alpha was preoccupied with something else at the moment.

"They never even showed up!" said Naruto, stretching his aching muscles. "I mean, what kind of jounin are they?!"

"Hn," Sasuke replied eloquently.

"There must have been some reason," Hinata said. She had been glancing around every so often, eye narrowed with confusion.

"Something wrong, Hinata-san?" Naruto asked curiously. He had noticed her odd behavior and it had increased since earlier that day.

She only shook her head and said, "They did it on purpose."

"WHAT?!"

"Impossible," Sasuke snorted.

"To test our abilities with an unknown instructor would give them time to examine us. Because they weren't the ones testing us, we wouldn't hold back as much, figuring that our jounin sensei weren't going to judge us anyway. I just realized that they've been watching us the entire time," she finished solemnly.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI! ANKO! ARE YOU OUT THERE? SHOW YOURSELVES!"

Hinata gave a ghostly smile and looked away to hide her amusement, while a vein on Sasuke's forehead twitched dangerously.

"Dobe, I don't think they'd –"

"Well done for working out the point of our absence, Hinata-chan," Anko said, popping from out of nowhere.

"All three of you have displayed excellent skills, but not without some flaws," said Kakashi, appearing behind Sasuke and laying a hand on his shoulder.

"So that's what we'll work on," Anko said. "What about you sucks. We'll meet here again at 7 o'clock tomorrow, and this time Kakashi and I will be there. G'night now, kiddies!"

* * *

The next week was spent brutally training the three aspiring ninja with almost ferocious intensity. In other words, it was mostly conditioning Sasuke and Naruto not to tear each other apart at every given opportunity after Kakashi had arrived an hour or two late and Anko had given him the necessary (and shouted) reprimand. All of it was kept very hush-hush, because of the high-profile status of all three members (and their sensei).

Both of their teachers saw that they were three exceptionally talented genin, despite Naruto's scores in the Academy and Hinata's absence from the village. It was, in fact, quite a puzzle: how did she learn all the skills required of a ninja in Cloud's captivity? Only a bunch of idiots would train their captives in how to kill them. Much of her story was still in the dark.

Soon Team Alpha found themselves again waiting upon the bridge near Training Area 13. Hinata sat on the railing with her legs folded like a pretzel, while Sasuke leaned against the other side in his aloof way. Naruto, short of breath and red in the face, suddenly appeared, popping out of a nearby tree.

"Anko here yet?" he asked frantically. Hinata shook her head. He smiled in relief.

"Thank the powers that be! I really think she'll skin me if I'm late."

"Well, I don't know about _skinning_. That seems way too brief for a special case like you, shrimp."

Naruto spun around quickly, the color draining out of his face. "Hey there, Mitarashi-sama…"

She smirked at him. "Good, good, I see you're finally learning your manners! Now, Kakashi and I have decided on a certain type of training today. Since the other two graduating teams in your year are very eager to see how you shape up –"

"Oh maaaaaan, not another _sparring _day!" Naruto whined, face drooping. Apparently, he had regained his backbone. "Wasn't fighting Fuzzy Brows enough torture for one decade or so?"

"Quit complaining. It's annoying! Besides, can't you handle a couple of punks from your graduating class? None of them will even be near the level of Gai's team – they've been training together for an entire year now, while your fellow classmates have had about a week, just like you.

"Anyway, as I was saying, the other two teams are interested to see how you're coming along. And their jounin sensei, Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai, are especially eager to see how you function as a team and to meet Hinata. I don't know where Kakashi is –" She looked distinctly displeased.

"- But the point of today's exercise is to show us how you work as a team as opposed to alone. You know, if your abilities mesh well enough already, your general attitude toward each other and such."

"We've only been a team for a few days, Anko-san," said Hinata softly as Naruto and Sasuke shot each other glares that were better suited for enemies than teammates. "I don't think this will be an accurate gauge of our abilities."

"_Seven_ days," Anko corrected. "It's going to show us how much work we need to get you to a point where your teamwork is flawless, as befitting any Konoha ninja. You better not let me down either, because I told Kurenai to expect a challenge." She turned away and started walking, but stopped once.

"Oh, and if this turns into an ego trip, boys… training will be hell. Forever. Understand?"

They couldn't see her face, but the voice was scary enough.

"Yes'm."

"Hn."

"_What was that, Sasuke_?"

"…yes."

"Good. Now let's go."

A couple minutes later, Naruto and Sasuke found themselves facing their former classmates. Neither was very pleased. Sasuke because Sakura and Ino had immediately latched onto his arm; Naruto because he had never been well-liked in the Academy. What would've changed? It had only been a week. Besides, Kiba was an annoying bastard.

"Hey Sasuke-kun, what do you think of my new bracelet?"

"Hn."

"Don't be stupid, forehead girl, it looks like you made it yourself out of animal hide! Plus, Sasuke-kun is totally entranced by my beautiful blue eyes, right, Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn."

"Yo, Naruto. How's the whole team thing going? Not slowing anybody down are you?" Kiba was smirking over at him. Naruto glanced stonily back at him.

"For once, Sakura has my pity instead of my disgust," he opted for. It was no secret that he disliked the pink-haired girl. Before he had deemed playing pranks too boring, she had been a favorite target of his. "And poor, poor Shino…"

"The third member of your cell is a Hyuuga?" said Kiba suddenly, losing interest in their previous argument as he looked Hinata over. She had been trailing slightly behind both boys. The Inuzuka's comment had all heads turning toward Team Alpha's kunoichi. Another jounin sensei, tall, brunette, and female, turned to Hinata with a smile.

"Hello. I'm Yuuhi Kurenai, the jounin instructor of Team 8." They stepped forward to introduce themselves.

"Hey. Inuzuka Kiba here," he said, grinning with a slightly flirtatious edge.

A pink-haired, green-eyed girl stepped forward, looking not at all happy to see the girl who had stolen "her" Sasuke. "Haruno Sakura," she said shortly, too snotty for Naruto's tastes.

"Aburame Shino." The tall boy, barely visible behind his high-collared grey coat, was clearly of the tall, dark, and brooding variety.

"I'm Sarutobi Asuma, Team 10's sensei," said a kind-looking, bearded man smoking a cigarette.

"_I'm _Yamanaka Ino," said the blonde girl, who seemed very bossy. "These two idiots – Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru – are my teammates." She, too, looked at Hinata with a stuck-up attitude.

"And this is Hinata," said Anko. The girl bowed politely to all of them. "Now, to get down to business. I don't want to waste any time waiting for Kakashi, so let's just set something up right away, ne?" The other jounin nodded. "Any suggestions?"

"Let's just go one-on-one-on-one first," said Asuma. "It'll be like a warm-up."

"Why don't all the kunoichi start?" Kurenai suggested. Anko looked startled at first, but then shrugged.

"Well, if you insist…"

Kurenai raised her eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing," Anko chimed innocently. "Send 'em in."

The three young kunoichi stepped into the middle of Training Ground 13, forming a triangle. Sakura and Ino exchanged a glance, sharing an understood message: this girl was the new threat. Make sure the threat knows Sasuke is off limits.

Hinata saw the look and quickly deduced that it was not so much going to be a one-on-one-on-one fight as it was a one-on-two. Her thoughts were confirmed when both girls rushed at her in sync.

But their movements were sloppily and juvenile. Hinata frowned slightly. She had trained with Sasuke and Naruto for the past week, and they had been so much more advanced. These two were bumbling idiots in comparison.

_So they're the cream of the crop, then. I wonder why Sasuke-san calls Naruto-san dead last. _

Her thoughts wandered in the same idle strain, not needing to focus on the fight before her. It was almost pathetically easy. But her mind began to focus selectively on the reactions of Sakura and Ino.

She relished the shocked look on Sakura's face when her punches were dodged like child's play. She savored Ino's cry of displeasure when her foot was swatted away like an annoying fly. Hinata realized in that moment that she was repulsed by the two girls, fighting ravenously over the attentions of a boy who didn't seem to give a damn. All she had been through, all she had _seen_, made these two seem so unbearably shallow. And they were the future fighting force of the village? They were so _ignorant _to the workings of the outside world!

A devious idea took hold in her head.

While the other two girls were getting up from their latest fall, looking sufficiently humiliated and still angry, Hinata dropped the bomb.

"You know, Haruno-san… I remember Uchiha-san saying something about how beautiful your eyes were…"

"WHAT?!" Ino screeched. "Impossible!"

"Not so, Ino-pig!" said Sakura triumphantly. "As you can see, love conquers all!"

"Only if it's TRUE LOVE, billboard brow! How could Sasuke-kun truly love a girl that's more forehead than face?!"

The situation quickly dissolved into a shouting match between the rivals. Hinata sat on the sidelines, looking bored.

"That's quite enough," Kurenai called out, exasperated. "Sakura! I said _enough_!" She turned to Team 10's sensei. "Way to step in, Asuma…"

"You want _me _to control Ino? You know so little, grasshopper…"

Sakura, Ino, and Hinata walked back toward the rest of the group, Ino and Sakura still glaring hotly at each other. They had completely forgotten about the "threat".

"The way both of you behaved was absolutely childish," said Kurenai. "Hinata is new to our village, what must she think now?" Both girls cowered under Kurenai's red-eyed stare.

"Sorry, Hinata-san," muttered the two in unison.

"I should apologize." Hinata said. "I gave you the impression that I cared. I really don't." Ino and Sakura gaped at her, thinking she was making fun of them; but there was a well-hidden anger in her voice that only her teammates and sensei could catch. She turned to Anko, who was grinning slightly.

"Do all kunoichi of Konoha conduct themselves in this way?"

"Of course not, Hinata-chan. You certainly don't behave like that, now do you?" Hinata jumped a bit as Kakashi placed a calming hand on her head. All the anger in her evaporated in her wide-eyed stare as he ruffled her bangs.

"Kakashi," said Kurenai. Asuma gave him a nod of recognition. Anko was not so forgiving.

"Where the hell have you been? What part of seven AM sharp is hard for you to understand?!" she yelled, vein twitching on her forehead.

"Well, I was walking on the road of life –"

"LIAR!" said Anko and Naruto, pointing at him and scowling.

"- and a poor old lady fell and broke her hip!" he replied cheerfully. "Naturally, I had to help her out. But anyway. Why don't we just have the teams warm up with each other separately? That seems like a better idea."

"What happened?" Naruto asked as they retreated to their corner to warm up.

"I mentioned you, Uchiha-san, and suddenly they couldn't seem to focus," said Hinata, resentment hidden under her silky tones. "You have my commiseration."

Naruto snickered. Sasuke scowled, looking gloomy. "Every day of the Academy…" he murmured to himself.

The teams warmed up for a few minutes before reconvening in the center of the clearing. Kakashi looked over the other two teams. Neither was as skilled as his team – when Sasuke and Naruto had a mind to work together. However, Asuma's team was definitely more of a recon team. Their skills lay mostly spying; none of them had the physical power even to come close to his own team. Kurenai's team, though, had both power in Kiba and skill in Shino, with Sakura's brains balancing them both out.

_They should present the most challenge._

"Team 8 versus Team Alpha."

What Kakashi hadn't realized was that it was also the most volatile combination of teams possible. Tension mounted immediately. Naruto and Kiba, Sakura and Sasuke, Hinata and Sakura… In fact, the only who didn't seem to have a personal agenda was Shino.

"Begin!"

Team 8 was the first to attack, each leaping at their respective opponents – Sakura for Hinata, Kiba for Naruto, and Shino for Sasuke. Team Alpha stood and waited for the incoming assault. It was clear that Kurenai's team was more concerned about separating targets than about working as a team.

Sakura's foot swung again for Hinata's midsection; and, once again, it missed. She moved in, punching and kicking fiercely. Hinata blocked her every attempt, eyes unfocused. Clearly, she had deemed her challenger unworthy of attention. Sakura was not stupid. She had figured out that Hinata had not really heard Sasuke say anything. Just thinking about it made adrenaline rush through her veins hotly. She sped up, but Hinata matched her hit for hit.

_Nothing is getting through to her! I have to make her mad enough to mess up!_

"What's the matter with that eye of yours?" taunted the pink-haired girl. "I thought all Hyuuga liked to show off their dojutsu!"

Not only did Hinata pause, but Sasuke and Naruto did as well, the latter of who was staring at her with wide eyes.

It was completely silent. Sakura was beginning to doubt the success of this plan; while it usually worked to provoke Kiba a little bit to make him slip up, this girl was much more of a challenge. Would she –

Abruptly, Team Alpha disappeared into the treetops. Team 8 formed a tight ring facing outward, watching for any sign of movement.

The three reconvened in the top of a tall oak tree.

Naruto looked at Hinata expectantly. "Well?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you gonna do?" he clarified.

"Who said I was going to do anything?"

"The look you gave her could've frozen molten lava," Sasuke explained to her dryly.

"If she continues to taunt enemies like that, she will one day get herself killed," Hinata said, more to herself than either teammate. "Not to mention that she is now a legal adult. She could at least act the part. Right?"

The boys shrugged at her. "Whatever," said Naruto. "Just make sure it goes through her thick skull."

Hinata thought for a moment before her eye lit up. "This may benefit us both, Sasuke-san," she said.

"Then by all means proceed."

* * *

Woot. Another chapter out! Please review - you'll make me a happy panda, and I promise to reply to every review I get. Pinky promise. And if I forget, PM me.


	3. sarutobi's folly

"I've found them," Kiba murmured to his teammates

_**If anybody is concerned with me possibly 'superpowering' Hinata, please read this review reply…**_

_**To Sien**_ – thank you for your comments and I'm sorry that I can't PM you or email you directly, so I'll try to answer your questions here. Hinata may seem a bit overpowered at this point, but her power comes with major consequences which will be demonstrated later within the story. Also, she's been raised much differently than before. She has had to work very hard just to survive, and that has made her a much better ninja than in the original timeline. Well, maybe not so much better as more willing to do what it takes to survive, no matter what people say about her. So where the original timeline-Hinata is capable, but has no confidence, this Hinata is capable and knows that if she doesn't use her skills, she will not survive, as has been the case for her for many years.

And, as Hinata explained, Neji's downfall comes from his arrogance, but also from the fact that his father is still living. Remember that Hinata was taken to Kumogakure instead of Hizashi being taken in her place. Neji lost a big motivation in training, in my opinion – the injustice of his father's death. In short, Hinata is stronger in this AU and Neji is weaker in this AU. Also, I did not say that Hinata was immune to the Gentle Fist attacks – just that she could shake them off. In this sort of spar, I don't think Neji would be allowed by Gai or instructed by the Hyuuga clan to attack her internal organs – just her chakra points (I think they're called tenketsu). Hinata shook off the influence of Gentle Fist on her chakra points, she didn't heal the damage to her internal organs (because there was none).

Ino and Sakura are the top kunoichi simply because in the skill set of their class, they rank very high, i.e., the class is not very strong compared to Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke. Like in canon, Sasuke is ranked number one in the class and nobody else even comes close, at least not at first. They're just in a whole different league than most of their classmates.

I hope I answered your questions… if you have trouble with my English – I can get a little wordy – please, don't hesitate to tell me and I can rephrase.

On with the story!

* * *

**Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Three: Sarutobi's Folly_

* * *

"I've found them," Kiba murmured to his teammates. He sniffed the air tentatively. "That oak, to the left of those elms…"

They shot a volley of kunai up towards the tree, but before they could strike, three dark blurs leapt away in unison. Naruto landed in the middle, Hinata on his left and Sasuke on his right so that he was facing Sakura. She looked surprised, the fact that she was against Sasuke throwing her off-guard. Kiba immediately protested.

"Hey, don't you think that's a little unf –"

He barely managed to dodge Naruto's kick; it clipped his wrist. Scowling, he jumped away, rubbing the bruised joint.

"The real world doesn't care about fair or not," Naruto announced stonily. This time, Kiba leapt for him as Hinata made the first move on Shino.

The bug user was on the defensive, dodging and blocking Hinata's smooth and controlled kicks. Without warning, she leapt away, switching places with Naruto against Kiba. The Inuzuka was forced to duck her flying kick.

Sakura, meanwhile, was having trouble fighting Sasuke. Every time she would resolve to fight back, her courage would fail her at the last minute. She loathed the idea of harming Sasuke in any way.

Surprisingly, he did not take advantage of her reluctance, but simply tolerated her attacks, dodging when necessary. Sakura, fighting in a predictable, textbook-style fashion, settled into a rhythm that probably would've gotten her seriously injured if she was facing enemy ninja. Kurenai frowned. This match certainly was enlightening; but she had hoped to learn more about Hinata, not about the flaws of her own team.

Suddenly, Team Alpha shifted again – Sasuke and Hinata switched places. Sakura, who was fixated on Sasuke departing from her presence didn't notice the complex hand seals Hinata had begun to form. By the time she registered the diminutive kunoichi's hands on her wrists, it was too late.

"Genpo: Choices Yet to Come…"

/\

_Sakura blinked._

Everything was blindingly white, utterly white, and she couldn't see a thing. Then, all of a sudden, she landed smack dab in the middle of the training field. Shino, Naruto, and Hinata were all staring at her with varying degrees of intensity. Immediately, the thought crossed her mind, though she didn't know why: _Where is Kiba? _

There was an anguished scream to her left. Kiba was in the grasp of an enemy, a young, grey-haired man with glasses. There was a disgusting little smirk on his face as a blue aura engulfed his hand and he plunged it into Kiba's ankle. He grinned nastily as the Inuzuka squirmed and moaned in pain. Sakura, horrified, looked to see what Hinata, Shino, and Naruto were doing. They simply stood, staring at her unceasingly. Her anger grew.

"What are you doing?! Don't you see what that man is doing to my teammate?!"

They could only stare. Furiously, she crouched, preparing to jump into the fray and save Kiba. _I'm coming, dog boy… _

But just as she launched herself into the air, she felt a tug on her head and was sent slamming into the ground painfully. _Damn!_

"What the –"

She grabbed a hold of her hair, which had grown exponentially, much to her chagrin. "It must be caught on something," she murmured to herself. Turning around, she traced the trail of hair with her eyes.

Green clashed with black, and blue with cherry-blossom pink.

"…_Sasuke-kun?"_

/\

The two girls appeared to be in a trance.

"What the hell?! What is she doing to Sakura?" Kiba snarled at Naruto. He grinned toothily in response.

"Beats the hell out of me, inu-koro!"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!"

Naruto, as he leapt into the air to kick Kiba in the head, spied the tiny grin on Shino's face. _At least _somebody _on Team 8 has a sense of humor! Good ole Sh –_

"YOWCH!"

Akamaru had bitten him rather fiercely on the ankle for that last remark. "You MUTT!"

"Hey! Shut your mouth, Uzumaki!"

"You want some dog with your rabies, inu-koro? I'll send you my hospital bill!" Naruto screeched as he landed gracefully on all fours. Kiba's face was getting redder and redder every second.

"Stop calling me that – and Akamaru does not have rabies!"

Shino sighed very quietly, but Sasuke managed to catch it and smirk.

"I share your misery… and your bleeding eardrums."

On the sidelines Kurenai sighed, frustrated. This was turning out to be as bad as the kunoichi match.

"Should we just hand the village over to Orochimaru now?" Anko sarcastically remarked under her breath.

"Looks that way," muttered Asuma. "I should just –"

"Wait," Kakashi said lazily, flicking through another page of his book. "I want to see how Hinata's genjutsu plays out."

"Speaking of, where did she learn such a complex genjutsu, Kakashi?" asked Kurenai sweetly, raising an eyebrow and crossing her arms.

"I've been her sensei for a week," he replied breezily. "That's hardly enough time for her to gain my trust to such a degree. It must've been something she learned outside of Konoha."

Though not verbally, deep down he could acknowledge that he was rapidly becoming attached to this team of jaded child-misfits. They were all like him in a way, had suffered in ways equal to or greater than him; but each had gone down a different path. Sasuke was the high, aloof genius; Naruto, the rebellious, determined outcast. And Hinata, the quiet one. The one you were supposed to watch out for.

Shino and Sasuke continued to engage in a measured and controlled spar whilst Naruto and Kiba argued – loudly. Anko sighed.

"This is soooooo boring…"

/\

_She could barely believe it._

Sasuke was fingering her long, blossom-colored locks lovingly; the hair was wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. "Sakura-chan…" he breathed out, staring at her intensely. She blushed furiously.

"Sasuke-kun!" She squealed. A tormented scream pierced through Sakura's fantasy land. Grudgingly, she tore her eyes away from her beloved.

Kiba was once again being tortured by the grey-haired – _shinobi, _Sakura knew instinctively.

"S-Sakura…" he whimpered weakly. "Help me… He's going to –" The man grinned slightly, and plunged his chakra-engulfed hand into his elbow, causing his arm to bend the opposite way intended. He screamed again, louder this time.

Sakura felt sick to her stomach. How anyone could do that to another human being and not be completely disgusted was a mystery to her.

"Hold on, Kiba, I'm coming!" she called out encouragingly. Turning back to Sasuke, she looked pleading into his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, my teammate's in danger. Let go please."

He raised his eyebrow questioningly. "Who cares? It's just that stupid mutt boy."

"B-but – Sasuke-kun! His life is in danger!" She managed. Speaking out against her one true love was not something to which Sakura was accustomed.

"So what? Stay with me, Sakura…" He said softly, leaning in close to her face until their noses brushed.

"S-S-S-Sasuke…" she murmured, goo goo-eyed. Was this the same standoffish boy wonder she had a crush on?

_**HELL YEAH!**_Screeched Inner Sakura. _**GO FOR IT, HONEY! You deserve him!**_

Another scream. The stranger had repeated the process on Kiba's other arm. Now both were angled awkwardly inward. Sweat was rolling down his face in torrent as he attempted to form words through the pain. It was an act in vain.

"Sasuke!" she said firmly, pulling away from him. "I need to help Kiba!"

_He just looked at her like she was crazy. _

/\

"You are so _obnoxious_, Naruto! And it's only gotten worse since you graduated - by some fluke, obviously!"

"Shut your mouth! I graduated because I successfully performed the bushin jutsu, just like everybody else!"

"Isn't it kind of funny how all of a sudden you could perfectly execute the bushin jutsu, when that was the reason you failed two years in a row?"

Naruto sneered. Just because he wanted to let the village continue to think that he was an idiot didn't mean that he actually _was_ an idiot. "Feh," he said carelessly. "That doesn't seem to matter a whole lot, especially since now that we've graduated, all can clearly see who the better ninja is. You know, between the two of us."

"Yeah, completely obvious. I'm glad you've finally seen how much better than you I really am, Naruto."

"Are you delusional Kiba? Or did you just not see the way I kicked your ass a few minutes ago?"

"Getting lucky seems to be your strong point," said Kiba with a smirk. "Care for a rematch?" He flexed his clawed hand menacingly.

"If you're up for it, dog shit…"

"Shikyaku no Jutsu!" (All-Fours Technique)

Naruto narrowed his eyes as Kiba crouched down and rushed at him double his normal speed.

_You're fast, Inuzuka… but not _that _fast. _

They exchanged blows, Naruto blocking leisurely. Flipping around, he flung five kunai that forced Kiba to roll to the left. The Inuzuka growled in frustration. Naruto smirked.

"Guess you're not that cool after all, ne Kiba?"

"_You _may be faster than me… but this is still a team spar!" He leapt for the hypnotized Hinata. Both Naruto and Sasuke tried to make a run for her, but they were too far away. Kiba launched himself towards her, with the intent to tackle; however, as if sensing the oncoming onslaught, she unfroze, eye saucer-wide.

As she leaned back quickly, his hand barely grazed her face, ripping loose her eye covering without warning. Kiba, whose momentum had taken him several yards away, seemed to realize what he had done; as the jutsu began to revert, his stare wavered between her and the eye patch. But suddenly, his resolve was steeled, and he rushed at her again. Bent over, hands clutching the place where the cover had rested, she cut a rather non-threatening sight.

But she proved him wrong as her hands flashed through seals too fast for him to follow, her hair hanging over her face. Slamming her open palms onto the ground, a wall of earth erupted from the dirt mere inches from Kiba's face. He was going so fast that he was unable to dodge in time and hit the wall with a resounding thud.

"OWWWWwwwwwoooohhhhh…"

Naruto barely managed to stifle his snickers. Jogging to the fallen "inu-koro", he retrieved Hinata's eye patch and then walked over to her.

"I'll just leave this here, okay?"

She nodded quickly, and when he turned around he could hear her re-securing it firmly. He resisted the urge to peek; he figured that she would come out and tell them in time.

Standing up and walking past Naruto, she rounded on the recovering Kiba.

"Do you even realize what you just did?" asked Hinata quietly. The snappy retort died on his tongue as he looked at her stone-cold face. "No," he muttered belligerently. "And I don't –"

"You should care," she replied. "Because I have officially lost control of that genjutsu. Without the contact, the genjutsu leeches off the mind of the victim for fodder, twisting it to fine tune its effectiveness. The situation I set up within the illusion becomes perfectly tailored to her mind. We can only be glad that Sakura has suffered little hardship in her life, and thus, I have hopefully taken the genjutsu to its most effective level. Otherwise…"

"Otherwise what?" Kiba asked nervously.

Hinata smiled then. It was the first smile anyone in the village of Konoha had seen. But it was not a pleasant smile, or even the ghost-smile to which her teammates had become accustomed. It was a bitter smile, a jaded smile, suited more to a war veteran than a young girl.

"Otherwise, who knows?"

/\

_Her lips trembled dangerously. _ Tears gathered in her eyes.

"B-but, he could die!"

"So? Everybody dies sometimes, isn't that what they said back in the Academy?"

"Well, yes, but this death is preven –"

"Let's _go_, Sakura." He tugged her by the hand. "I'm _bored._"

She stared at him, mouth hanging agape. After a moment, she looked away, steeling her shoulders and clenching her fists.

"Sasuke, NO!" She finally said. "I have to help Kiba!"

"Fine then," he said, back to his stone-cold Avenger self. "Choose. Me or Kiba."

"If you're going to be like this…I don't know if we can be together," Sakura replied, heart breaking.

"Fine… but you're still stuck here!" Grinning nastily, Sasuke gestured to her hair that was now wrapped rather tightly around a pole (as opposed to around him). "See you around, _sweetie_."

With that final remark, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

_Sasuke-kun, you – you – JERK!_

_**As much as I hate to admit it… you're right. **_

_Now I've got to get over there with my stupid hair – and it's so tangled around this pole, I'll never get it undone before – before that man kills Kiba! _

_**ARE YOU SERIOUS?! This a LIFE we're talking about, girlie! Do what you have to! Kick some ass!  
**_

_Sakura took a deep breath, and pulled a kunai out of her pouch. _

/\

All attention was immediately transferred to Sakura. She was mumbling something under her breath as she groped around in her weapons holster. They were immediately on guard when she took out a kunai.

"I don't know what she'll do – attack, or self-harm," said Hinata, a slight wrinkle forming between her brows. "Or whatever."

Almost too quickly for their eyes to follow, Sakura pulled her hair up as if to place it in a ponytail and raised the kunai.

"What is she doing?" Naruto asked, more curious than concerned. He knew Sakura was waaaaay too fixated on Sasuke to die without having him confess his undying love, so suicide was improbable.

She took the kunai to her hair.

Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Kiba and even Shino watched with pure shock as the bubblegum pink strands fell about her, floating down with unnatural grace. Then she flopped to the ground, unconscious.

"Did she seriously just do that?!" Kiba yelled, staring with his jaw hanging open. "But she's a Sasuke groupie! Why the hell would she do that?!"

"The setting of my genjutsu made Sasuke her antagonist," said Hinata. "Most likely, this has expelled the illusion."

"Could you explain a little more, Hinata-san?" asked Shino, emotionlessly. She nodded.

"Because Sasuke was her enemy within the genjutsu, she had to fight him. In order to fight him, she had to break free of whatever was binding her to him physically – in this case, her hair. I wonder why…"

"That's easy," said Naruto, rolling his eyes. "Somebody started a rumor in the Academy that Sasuke liked girls with long hair. That's why Sakura and Ino both grew their hair out – they even used to be best friends before they both got a crush on Sasuke. That's why they're rivals."

"That… is the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

-

Sakura groaned. She rubbed her head as she sat up dizzily, fighting to regain internal equilibrium.

"Wha… happened?" she mumbled to herself, looking around. "Kiba -!"

She looked around. He was fine, if staring at her in shock.

_Then what was that? Just some crazy daydream? _

No, it hadn't been. It was a genjutsu. That new girl, Hinata, had cast it on her. Obviously, the spar was long over. But why were they all staring at her as though she was crazy?

It was then that she noticed. The silken, expertly shampooed and conditioned pink hair that was her trademark was lying on the ground – severed from her head.

Shakily, she looked at the kunai in her hand. And it appeared as though she had done the deed.

She heard somebody approach as she listlessly dropped the kunai and bit her lip, trying to stifle the sobs that were desperate to escape.

Tears were gathering in her crystal green eyes. Now Sasuke would never, ever like her. And all because some girl had to prove a point. A trembling cry left her lips.

"Look at me," Hinata commanded.

"_Look at me_, Haruno."

Sakura, resentfully, obediently, looked up. Her jaw dropped as she gasped in horror and disgust.

Behind that eye patch was not another eye, but an empty socket that looked brown and dead and horrible. Sakura curled into herself, staring up at Hinata with muted trepidation.

"The life of a ninja is a life of loss. You will lose your comrades, your friends, your innocence. After they leave you, you can never have them back. So don't you dare – don't you _dare _start crying about something that will actually grow again."

She quickly re-secured the patch and turned away.

"Well, I think that's enough sparring for now," said Kakashi, who had suddenly appeared in the midst of the battling genin. Hinata nodded with no emotion on her face. Sakura couldn't look at her. Both teams quietly gathered all their members and walked back to join Asuma's team.

"Team Alpha is the clear winner… and it's to be expected, I suppose."

Kurenai was annoyed. "Oh? And how's that?"

"I suppose your lovesick kunoichi would act differently against Team 10… but that wasn't the case here. Besides, Kiba's cockiness against Naruto would have gotten him killed in the real world." The Inuzuka was sobered by this assessment. "In fact, I'd say only Shino had the presence of mind to fight Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata. If his teammates had been working with him, they would've stood a chance."

The red-eyed jounin let out a longsuffering sigh. "Well, he's right. What've you two got to say for yourselves?"

"Sorry, sensei," they chimed in sullen unison. Kiba's pride, however, wanted the last word.

"But Kurenai-sensei, Team _Alpha _has the top member of our graduating class and two jounin teachers, not just one. Can you really blame us for being a little less coordinated?"

"Come to think of it, why do they have two sensei?" asked Sakura, looking up at Kurenai. Her courage was regained in the face of her sensei as she pushed the overwhelming shame away. She really had no idea what it was like to be a ninja…

"Want to field this one, Anko?"

"Sure thing," she replied. Walking over to Sakura, Anko bent her head down to the genin's level and stared straight into her eyes. There was a slight tremble in Sakura's spine, and for good reason.

Sakura shrieked suddenly as the jounin flicked her nose. "Take it up with the Hokage if you really want to know," she said dismissively. "I really don't see why we have to work together. Waste of manpower. But then again, I'm not the Hokage, am I?"

The pink-haired girl shook her head weakly, silently thanking the powers that be that Anko was not the Hokage.

"Good thing too, right?" she asked. Sakura froze like a frightened rabbit.

"That's enough, Anko," said Kurenai, who couldn't completely hide her amusement at her student's predicament. After all, she wouldn't be in this position if she wasn't so single-mindedly fixated on the Uchiha boy, which was quite annoying to her sensei. All Sakura ever did was complain about how Sasuke was not on her team.

"Hinata-san, I must ask you how you learned that jutsu. I had heard the art of Genpo was mostly lost in the Five Elementals."

"I don't know how common it is – I, um, liberated this scroll from a library I visited," she replied quietly, taking a scroll out of her belt and handing it to Kurenai. The jounin opened the scroll and examined it closely.

"Hmm… Hinata-san, would you mind if I borrowed this?"

"You can have it. I've committed it to memory."

"Thank you."

"And, Yuuhi-san –"

"Kurenai is fine."

"Kurenai-san, I never got the chance to thank you."

She looked at the young girl, confused. "What do you mean?"

"For taking me to Konoha."

Kurenai looked at her incredulously. "You remember that? You looked like you were in so much pain I thought you wouldn't be able to recall me…" She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Anyway, you're quite welcome."

Hinata's reply was cut off by a well-timed grumble from Naruto's stomach. He grinned sheepishly.

"It's Ichiraku time! Are we done, Anko?"

"Well, I think Team Alpha is done," she said with a grimace. Her team had kicked so much ass, it was as though the other two were irrelevant. _Boriiiiiiing…_

"Cool! Hey, Hinata-san do you wanna come with me to get some ramen?" She blinked at him.

"Ano… what is ramen?"

Shikamaru looked at her strangely. _Is this girl for real? _Everyone was shooting her similar looks. But Naruto was the most dramatic.

"Are. You. Serious?! Ramen is the BEST FOOD EVER! And Ichiraku makes the best ramen ever! We can go right now, okay? Okay!"

"Pfft," Anko cut in. "Ramen's not that great. Cheap though. By contrast, everybody's heard of dango, ne, Hinata-chan?"

"Umm… what's dango, Mitarashi-san?"

"Are. You. _**Serious?!**_ Dango is – is – is – is - is _dango_, for Kage's sake! I'm taking you right away –"

"But she already said she'd get some ramen," Naruto pointed out. "Let's go Hinata-san." He grabbed a hold of her wrist.

"Yeah, but I'm more important than you, and thus, win no matter what. Let's go, Hinata-chan." She took her other arm tightly. They both tugged on either side, glaring at each other.

"Ano…" Hinata weakly interjected, but they were already beginning to turn the opposite way and pull. "Can't we just do both?"

"Mm. Never thought about that."

"That's why we need you on this team, Hinata-chan. Thinking outside the box. Unlike these two blockheads."

"Sasuke can go, too," Hinata continued, gaining confidence as the pair calmed down. "Because -"

"Team bonding," inserted Kakashi as if he had belonged in the conversation since the very beginning. "What an excellent idea."

_I was thinking of something more along the lines of "A team suffers together", but this works too. _She nodded.

"But," she said quietly. "I don't have any money with me."

"That's okay, Hinata-chan, this one's on me," said Anko generously.

"And I have some ramen coupons we can use," Naruto added. "Can we pleeeeeeease go now?"

Sasuke, who did not look very pleased at being dragged into eating with his team, scowled. "Which one are we going to first, then?"

"Ramen!" Naruto shouted gleefully.

"Dango!" Anko yelled at the same time. A glaring match ensued. Hinata sighed softly.

"Why don't we make Kakashi-sensei decide?" asked Sasuke emotionlessly. On the inside, he was smirking deviously. "He seems impartial."

Kakashi would've glared at the perceptive Uchiha, if it wouldn't have made him look uncool. That was _so _Gai's scene.

"So, Kakashi?" asked Anko silkily. "Which will it be?"

Naruto just scowled at him.

The little blonde genin could make his life hell, if he so intended. Uzumaki Naruto was the master of prank-pulling, as everybody knew, and had the skills to escape from the ANBU who had been sometimes assigned to track him down. And if it was somebody who really deserved to be the victim of a prank in Naruto's mind, he could be super vindictive.

Anko, on the other hand…

Anko was a whole other league. Her sadistic streak was many miles long, and, like Naruto, if she thought her victim deserved what he was getting… Kakashi shuddered. Some things were best left not pondered.

"Let's go get some dango."

"Aw, damn it!"

"Shut up, dead last."

"You shut up, bastard!"

"Please, can't we just –"

"Now, now, Naruto-chan, you shouldn't speak to betters like that."

"You are not my better, you – you – wannabe ninja!"

"At least I'm not a wannabe Hokage…"

"SHUT U –"

Suddenly, both boys were lying on the ground, with Hinata having forcibly cracked their skulls together. Groaning, they sat up and scowled at each other venomously.

"Which way to the dango stand?" she asked calmly of Anko.

"I thought you'd never ask! This way!"

Kurenai shook her head as the rest of Team Alpha trailed behind the two females, Naruto and Sasuke rubbing their foreheads and still glaring at each other heatedly. Kakashi smiled – she could tell by his one eye – and ruffled the boys' hair before sticking his nose back in his book.

As much as she'd wanted the mysterious Hinata on her team, it would seem that the Hokage had made the right decision.

_And to think, some of the jounin were calling this team Sarutobi's Folly…_

* * *


	4. hell's bells

Meant to have this chapter up sooner, but some family issues got in the way. Apologies.

_**To Sien**_ – You know, I never thought of that. A little bit, I guess… not so arrogant, though. :P

* * *

_Strange Kismet_

_Chapter Four: Hell's Bells_

* * *

It was two in the morning, the day he was required to meet with the snobbish, overbearing daimyo of Grass Country and possibly his bratty son. His old teammates, Koharu and Homura, would soon be arriving to bitch at him accordingly (both for waking them up and 'favoring the Kyuubi boy'). This was the absolute last thing he wanted to be doing right now. Yet he couldn't help but fight back a grin.

Sarutobi stared down at Team Alpha from behind his desk. Team Alpha stared right back up at him unabashedly. The Hokage sighed.

"I'm getting too old for this…"

Naruto's face split into a grin. Sasuke smirked and even Hinata smiled her ghost-smile. Sarutobi lit his pipe before rubbing at his temples tiredly.

"Now, tell me what happened."

The three exchanged knowing looks. Naruto was the first to speak, as per usual.

"Well ya see old man, it all started when Iruka-sensei had finished taking me out for ramen…"

* * *

(Yesterday Evening, approx. 7 PM)

"Thanks for treating me, Iruka-sensei," said Naruto happily, patting his stomach with a large, toothy grin. It was one of those rare times where he felt really content. Iruka was the only one who had been kind to him during his Academy days.

"It's a good thing I like you more than I like my wallet, Naruto," Iruka grumbled in reply. But the annoyed look on his face soon melted away and he ruffled Naruto's hair fondly as he grinned down at the blonde.

The pair continued to engage in lighthearted banter all the way to Iruka's apartment, which was on the way to Naruto's.

"Hey, thanks again Iruka-sensei!" called Naruto as the chuunin placed the key in the lock. Iruka turned and waved at Naruto one last time (ignoring the glares that earned him) and went inside.

As soon as the chuunin disappeared, Naruto's cheerful demeanor went with him. The smile dropped off his face like a deadweight and he shoved his hands in his pockets. His attitude became frigid and off-putting. This was the way he had to act so as not to get harassed on the way home.

People didn't stop their glaring, however. In fact, they seemed to take his attitude as invitation to scowl at him as venomously as possible.

_Well, screw 'em_, he thought. This did not quell the familiar ache he felt. That never seemed to go away, even after the many times the villagers showed how much they hated him. It was always so utterly _unfair _that he couldn't help but feel that little pang and wonder why the hell they couldn't look past his tenant for once and just look at _him _-Uzumaki Naruto, expert but good-meaning prankster and now genin of Team Alpha.

His surly mood increased exponentially as got closer to his apartment. It was in a not-so-decent neighborhood in which people were much more inclined to yell at him or throw things in his general direction. He picked up speed just slightly to make better time. The door of his building came into view and inwardly he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey."

Naruto spun around, fully intent on giving whoever was about to bother him a piece of his mind. "Listen, man, I didn't do anything, I'm just trying to get home and if you don't want to get hurt then just – Mizuki-sensei?"

The white-haired chuunin smiled genially down at Naruto. "You get troubled often, going home?"

"Nothing I can't handle," he muttered, looking away for a moment. Then he moved his electric blue eyes to the chuunin's face. "What are you doing here, Mizuki-sensei?"

"I've seen how these people treat you, Naruto-kun," said Mizuki sympathetically. "You never catch a break. And for no apparent reason."

"Yeah." Naruto was suspicious. Mizuki had never really reached out to him in his Academy days; why was he being so nice now?

"Did you know that a chuunin is allowed to promote a genin he believes is worthy?" Mizuki asked suddenly.

"Er, no."

"Well, there's a special test that a genin must past and if the chuunin thinks he or she has fulfilled the task to the best of his or her abilities, then they are promoted to chuunin rank."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Isn't it obvious?" said Mizuki with a laugh. "I want _you _to take the test!"

Naruto's mood lightened fractionally, but he wasn't yet convinced. "How come Iruka-sensei never told me about a test like that?"

Damn, the kid was sharp. But Mizuki could play the game, too - the sympathetic look was back. "We were talking about it, Naruto-kun, we really were, but he said you weren't ready. He said you were too slow and immature, that you wouldn't understand."

The look of betrayed hurt that crossed Naruto's face did not escape Mizuki's notice and he capitalized on it viciously.

"But _I _know you're ready for this. You're ready to prove yourself to everybody. You're ready to be the best! I'm giving you that chance, Naruto-kun. What do you say?"

"…what do I have to do?"

The chuunin hid his smirk behind a wide, friendly smile.

"Well, first of all…"

* * *

Sasuke had been quite surprised to find Hinata still down at the training grounds. He himself had only left to eat before heading back there, but she had arrived in his absence. She blinked owlishly.

"Uchiha-san?"

"Please, Sasuke-san is fine," he said without thinking. Sasuke bit back a wince. This girl's excessive politeness was triggering his old clan manners. Then again, he found he did want her to be comfortable enough to call him Sasuke-san. (He wasn't quite ready for the –kun suffix, however.)

"Sasuke-san," she said softly. "I'm sorry if I've taken your training grounds. I'll leave, if you wish."

He shook his head. "That's not necessary. You're a lot more tolerable than that dobe."

Hinata's eyes suddenly narrowed in remembrance. Why did he call Naruto names like those? All three of them were on another level than their other classmates.

"Sasuke-san, I've been meaning to –"

CRAAAACK – BOOM!

"Do you know what that was?"

He shook his head. "No idea. We should probably investigate."

Having said this only in the hopes that finding out what it was might satiate his curiosity, Sasuke was surprised to see her nod. "Observe, assess the situation, and act on our information," she said, quite professionally.

He felt cheeks pink very slightly and he made to jump into the nearest tree so that she couldn't see.

"…er, exactly."

"Though I am rather curious to see what it is."

"…thought so…"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Nothing. Let's go."

* * *

Naruto was breathing rather heavily, but he was grinning from ear to ear.

Taking the text had been remarkably easy – a simple application of his patented Sexy Jutsu. He had then proceeded to haul the Forbidden Scroll to a secluded training ground.

It had taken a while, but with a good deal of concentration he had mastered the first technique on the scroll, Kage Bushin no Jutsu. As he had read, the jutsu was forbidden because it required an ungodly amount of chakra – which he happened to have in spades. Kyuubi had not been coaching him, because for the past few days the great kitsune had been napping; but, Naruto thought, he had done rather well on his own. He felt the bijuu stir within his mind.

_Kyuubi?  
_

_**...MMM… WHAT ARE YOU DOING?**_

_Well, I stole this big scroll thing from the Hokage's office because Mizuki-sensei said it would make me a chuunin if a mastered a technique on it! Neat, huh?  
_

_**EXCELLENT, KITLING. THIS IS A MOST BENEFICIAL OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE HIDDEN TECHNIQUES OF THE VILLAGE. HOWEVER… I DON'T THINK YOU SHOULD TRUST THAT TEACHER. I THOUGHT WE'D DECIDED THAT ABOUT ALL EXCEPT UMINO. **_

_Don't call me that! _Inwardly, Naruto was fuming at the use of the pet name the Kyuubi had given him when they had first been 'introduced.' It was a sign of affection when he was younger – much younger – but now it was just embarrassing.

_And… you think Mizuki-sensei was lying to me? _

_**YOU KNOW WHAT THIS VILLAGE IS LIKE. WHY WOULD THEY OFFER THIS TEST TO YOU INSTEAD OF THE UCHIHA GENIUS? **_

…_yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right._

"Naruto-san?"

He nearly dropped the scroll. "Holy s – Hinata-san?!"

The pale girl was standing behind him, head tilted to the side as she gazed at him with open curiosity. He began to sweat.

"What the hell did you do this time, idiot?" asked Sasuke, annoyed. His quick dark eyes flitted around the clearing, taking in the carnage. Several trees looked like they had seen better days thanks to Naruto, and one in particular had been abused so rigorously that it had been broken apart in the middle. The sound of the huge tree breaking and its consequential fall must've been the noise they'd heard.

So, that was one question answered. But how did the dead-last of their class manage to acquire such power?

"What's that scroll you're holding?" said the taller boy suspiciously.

"_You automatically fail if anybody realizes what you're doing."_

"Er, nothing at all. Now please go away." Mentally, he smacked himself. It didn't matter what that teme Mizuki had said, because he was lying. Kyuubi was right. They would've given a test to their beloved Uchiha genius.

Naruto felt the resentment bubbling within him. _Sasuke _got everything he ever wished for; he would never want for anything. The same could not be said of Uzumaki Naruto, that was for damn sure. As he opened his mouth to further badger them into leaving him alone, Hinata began to speak.

"Naruto-san, what are you doing?" she said with honest curiosity.

Sasuke's constant barrage of hateful insults he could've withstood so easily; but Naruto could not stand up to her question, asked out of such a complete lack of negative emotion. It was just a simple, innocent question, with no latent malice or anger. So he spilled the beans. He told them about how Mizuki had cornered him outside of his apartment and explained a way to make chuunin straight away, and how he had (much quicker in his retelling of his story than in reality) realized that it was just a lie to make him steal the scroll, though for what purpose he didn't know. (He had a sneaking suspicion that Mizuki intended for him to be thrown out of the village or some such rot.)

Sasuke was skeptical. "If you knew it was a lie from the get-go why did you bother to steal the scroll? Why not just tell the Hokage?"

Naruto sniffed haughtily. "_Obviously, _teme, I am playing into the enemy's hands on purpose to lure them into a false sense of confidence. I thought the genius of our year would've realized that."

"Hn," said Sasuke, turning away from the blonde. Naruto grinned.

"Did you tell the Hokage?" asked Hinata softly, looking at him.

"Err… no. But honestly, I didn't want to bother the old man with that. It just seemed like a waste of time."

Sasuke sneered. "So what were you planning on doing then? Just taking out Mizuki-sensei by yourself?"

"Well, yeah –"

"That's dumb –"

"He's just a chuunin, anyway –"

"And you didn't even ask us!"

"I – what?"

"You didn't even ask us to come help you," said Hinata, quietly mirroring Sasuke's outburst. The Uchiha crossed his arms over his chest and snorted angrily.

"After that bell test Kakashi gave us, I'd have thought you'd realized we're a team, baka," snarled Sasuke.

The bell test. Naruto winced. Three days into their second week of training, Kakashi had informed them that Anko would not be there the next day to train, and that they were going to be practicing a survival exercise.

"_Be there at five AM and don't eat breakfast – you'll throw it up!" _

When he had finally arrived – at noon - Kakashi explained that the Hokage was giving an impromptu test to see if the teams had been making the progress they should; and teams that were falling behind would be "pruned". The idea of being pruned out of the ninja system was not at all appealing to any of Team Alpha's genin. Kakashi held up two bells and explained that the first two to get a bell would be sent back to the ninja Academy. The one who did not get a bell would be banned from becoming a ninja forever.

Hinata and Sasuke had immediately hidden themselves expertly in the surrounding trees. Naruto, in contrast, had immediately leaped into the fray. Kakashi-sensei had countered effectively – or had attempted to. When Hinata had seen the hand seals that their teacher was making, she had mistaken his next jutsu for a fire-type; thinking that Kakashi-sensei would seriously hurt or kill Naruto, she had immediately launched five senbon to different pressure points on Kakashi's arm.

Being forced to dodge the weapons or risk being paralyzed, Kakashi didn't have time to block Naruto's shadow clone while it landed a crushing blow to his side. He landed roughly, and looked unconscious. Naruto had begun to stomp over, intent on making sure he was out for good when Hinata had stopped him.

"_Naruto-kun, there are easier and safer ways to check if someone is unconscious."_

She had taken a few senbon out of her weapons pouch and proceeded to throw them at the same places as before; only this time, they connected. Within a few seconds, however, there was a poof of smoke and a log appeared. Hinata had stiffened and spun around in a defensive crouch. Naruto, though a bit more slowly, imitated her.

"_That was quite clever, Hinata-san!"_

He then poofed into non-existence – a mere clone.

Next, he had taken out Hinata, using his incredible speed against her own; as a genin, she didn't really have a chance. She was soon tied up. Naruto tried to set her free, only to be caught himself. Sasuke chose this as his time to strike, only to end up in the ground up to his head.

Much to his surprise, Sasuke ended up tied to a log. Naruto and Hinata had been looking at him as Kakashi untied them, one gleeful and one surprised.

"_Naruto, Hinata-chan, you two showed the most teamwork… which was the point of the test. For that, I'm giving you lunch... but as for your abysmal performance, I'm not sure if I'm ready even to send you back to the Academy. As for you, Sasuke…" _Kakashi had merely shook his head and given them the lunch. _"I'm leaving to deliberate… and you two, if you give him food… you'll fail for sure. Ja!"_

Naruto had dug into his bento unabashedly at once; Hinata on the other hand, had looked up at Sasuke. He turned his head. _"It's alright. You don't need to fail for me." _His stomach had grumbled loudly at this point. She smiled a bit. _"Well, if the point of the test really is teamwork, then Kakashi-sensei surely can't begrudge me giving this to you." _

Naruto had reluctantly handed over a riceball as well. Then –

"_What the hell did I just say?" _The genin had cringed. _"Not to give the emo kid food! Just for that, you – PASS!"_

"_**WHAT?!"**_

Kakashi had proceeded to explain that the true purpose of the test was, indeed, to trust each other and to work as a team.

"_Those who don't follow the rules are trash… but those who forget their comrades are lower than trash." _He had pointed to a large pillar. _"That is called the Shinobi Cenotaph. It has the names of all the shinobi who have been killed in action. Always work together, and maybe you can avoid that fate longer than my team did." _

"For me, learning to trust people is very hard," Hinata said quietly, and Naruto watched her eye carefully as the demons of her past darted through it. "But… I am willing to try, if you do too."

He stared at her for a moment, before looking over at Sasuke.

"C'mon, dobe."

For once, there was no true contempt behind the hated nickname. It was almost like Sasuke was asking nicely.

"Alright. What's the plan?"

* * *

Iruka was the first to find Naruto, who was practicing hard. He was alone.

"I've finally found you!" Iruka said as he jumped down to Naruto's level.

"Eh? Iruka-sensei?"

"Naruto! What do you think you're doing?! Why did you steal the scroll from the Hokage's office?" And how? How had a mere genin been able to one-up the Hokage?

He grinned in a vulpine manner. "Well, Mizuki-sensei said that if I was able to take the scroll and learn one jutsu from it, that I would be promoted to chuunin!"

"What? Why would he - ?"

"Hello, Iruka-kun, Naruto-kun. If you could please hand over that scroll, I'd be ever so grateful."

Mizuki was standing in a tree, watching the pair triumphantly. He smirked nastily.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun, for doing all the dirty work for me," he said. "Now just give me that scroll, demon-child, and I won't have to hurt you… much."

Naruto's face was suddenly blank. His eyes turned cold. "You think you can hurt me? What do you know that can hurt me?"

"I know something. I know that _you _–"

"Mizuki! That is forbidden to be spoken of!" hissed Iruka. "Don't say it!"

"Ha! He deserves to know why everybody hates him, don't you think?"

"Is it because I am the container of the demon Kyuubi no Kitsune?" asked Naruto, rather calmly. Both chuunin turned to stare at him.

"H-how did you –"

"I can put two and two together thanks," he said coldly. "Now what can you do or say that will hurt me, Mizuki? Anything else? If I really am the demon you think I am… then you really don't stand a chance against me. And those words of yours can hardly hurt, since I already knew they were true. So what'll it be?"

The white-haired chuunin was incensed. "Why you-!" He leapt at Naruto, intending to attack him.

"Not so fast!"

Sasuke and Hinata had appeared out of nowhere, both positioned on either side of Naruto.

"Attacking one of us means attacking all of us," said Sasuke firmly, dropping into an offensive taijutsu stance. Hinata did the same.

"So are you ready to defend against everything we've learned?" asked Hinata, voice soft but intense.

"You're just one team! What have you been able to learn?"

"They meant what we've learned from this Forbidden Scroll," said Naruto with a positively evil grin. "Should we show him, guys?"

"Oh, let's…"

* * *

"And that's how he was reduced to a blubbering pile of flesh, Hokage-sama," said Naruto solemnly. This solemn tone was belied by the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

The Hokage looked at the three of them imperiously from behind his desk. "Hm."

Team Alpha gazed back, awaiting judgment.

"Team Alpha, tonight you stole our village's most sought-after scroll and then proceeded to attack and nearly kill a chuunin of this village with your stolen knowledge." He turned to Naruto. "You have revealed your secret to your teammates, which is strictly forbidden, even for you."

Naruto's breath caught. He had completely forgotten - he turned his head frantically from Hinata to Sasuke. They knew! Theyknewtheyknewtheyknewthey –

"Relax," said Hinata, putting a hand on his shoulder and not looking away from the Hokage.

The panic fled from his body like helium leaving a balloon, leaving him wonderfully deflated. They didn't – _she _didn't, at least –

Sarutobi hid his smile. "However. I am not your team leader… and I think I will leave your punishment up to Kakashi and Anko."

The two boys exchanged looks of muted horror. Together, they mouthed the name – 'Anko!'

"Hokage-samaaaaaa!" Something flew in through the window, a tan blur.

"Mitarashi Anko, arriving!" The tokubetsu jounin landed with a loud thump on the floor of the office before marching straight up the Hokage's desk.

"Hokage-sama, I demand to see my team right now! And what exactly did they do? I just ran into Iruka and he wouldn't tell me a thing, and -"

Sarutobi raised his eyebrows. There was a quiet cough from behind scantily-clad jounin. She turned.

"Er… hey team."

"I've just released them to you for punishment. They managed to steal the Forbidden Scroll, incapacitate Mizuki, and reveal the knowledge of the Kyuubi's true fate to three underage people." Anko's eyes widened a fraction before her face went curiously blank.

"I see. Thank you, Hokage-sama. We'll be leaving now."

Naruto started to walk out, though Hinata and Sasuke managed to bow politely to the Hokage before leaving.

They walked and walked, Anko giving no sign of either where they were headed or what kind of mood she was in. Finally, they arrived at their bridge, the place they met each morning before training.

"So…_so_."

Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto looked at her expectantly. "What'll it be?" asked Sasuke in a heavy voice.

"One hundred laps around the village each morning and night?" suggested Naruto.

"Target practice for you and Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke chipped in.

"Ooh, ooh, swimming through an alligator-infested swamp?"

"How about seeing how long we can last before fainting while being suspended over an active volcano?"

"A-_hem_."

Kakashi had appeared.

"I believe I should have a hand in your punishment as well, don't you think so, boys?" He turned to Anko. They exchanged a knowing glance. "Do you think?"

"Oh, yes. Definitely. That'll teach 'em," she said with a wicked smirk. "Your punishment will be…"

The three genin braced for the blow.

"To take us out to dinner and explain what the hell you did."

"Oh god no, please, Anko, have mer – wait, what?" Naruto's groveling was interrupted midway. "You want us to what?"

"Tell me what happened!" Anko said, as if it should have been obvious. "How did you steal the Forbidden Scroll, first of all; second of all, how did you each learn a different technique, and which ones did you learn – you know! The works!"

Hinata looked surprised. "You mean you're not… angry, or upset?"

"Upset? _Angry_?" It was Anko's turn to look startled. "I'm proud! My very own team, breaking into the Hokage's office without detection and stealing the Forbidden Scroll, attempting to learn and successfully learning high-rank forbidden jutsu, and beating the crap out of Mizuki – I hated that pretentious jackass! I would hug you right now if I wasn't… you know… me."

The genin exchanged silent, wide-eyed glances. Naruto, naturally, was the one to break the quiet.

"Oh yeah! Team Alpha strikes again, baby!" He struck a ridiculous pose, hips spread apart, one hand on his hip and the other in the air in the shape of a v.

Another silence. And then there was a giggle.

Naruto, Sasuke, Anko and even Kakashi turned to stare at Hinata as she outright _giggled_. The simple smile lit up her gaunt face with amusement, and suddenly there was a bit more color in her complexion. She was happy, for a moment.

Hinata seemed to realize what she had done and immediately clamped a hand over her mouth, a very light pink flush lighting up her cheeks as she looked away from her team.

"Well, I think we've found the secret to getting Hinata out of her shell," said Anko finally with a grin.

"Yeah," Kakashi supplied. "Make sure Naruto continues to act like himself…"

"That is, like an idiot," Sasuke finished with a smirk.

"Heyyyy …"

They didn't know it at that exact moment, but Team Alpha had just reached a crossroads. They took their first steps toward greatness during that night.

* * *

"Scarecrow to Sunny, do you copy? Over."

"Scarecrow, this is Sunny, over."

"Are you in position? Over."

"Sunny is in position, over. Firefox, are you in position? Over."

"Firefox is in position. Girly-boy, are you in position? Over."

"I refuse to answer to that ridiculous name, dobe. Over."

"My codename is Firefox, yours in Girly-boy. Accept it. Over."

"My codename was supposed to be Red Eye, thank you very much! Over."

"Okay, Pink Eye. Are you in position? Ov – OUCH! What the fuck, Sasuke!"

"This is a fucking waste of time," grumbled Anko darkly. Hinata, sighing, removed her earpiece and proceeded toward the fat, angry brown cat with the red ribbon tied on its left ear. Clicking her tongue quietly, she quickly convinced the seething feline to come to her and jump into her arms. He purred contentedly as she petted him.

"How do you do that?" asked Kakashi curiously. He remembered this cat's mother… damned thing. It was like they kept breeding temperamental cats on purpose so there would be enough D-rank missions to go around.

Hinata shrugged. "I'm good with animals. For a long time, they were the only things that were kind to me."

He fell silent.

"KAKASHI! Want to give me a hand, asshole?!" Anko screamed, trying to pry Naruto and Sasuke apart from each other.

"Well. This seems to be a successful mission."

Anko glowered at her fellow jounin. "Shut the hell up, Kurenai! If you had these two boys on _your _team, you'd be begging me to take them off your hands! And besides, it IS successful. In case you didn't notice, Hinata is holding the target."

"Yeah, we saw all the team effort that went into this, ah, _mission_," said Kiba snidely under his breath. Unfortunately for him, everyone on Team Alpha had excellent hearing, and all of their heads snapped toward him as soon as he stopped mumbling. He had the decency to flush bright pink before averting his eyes. Shino seemed stoic, and Sakura refused to look anyone in the eye, but seemed to give Hinata special attention in that regard. The one-eyed girl was not displeased by his new arrangement.

"Sorry to bother you, though," said Kurenai, seeming sincerely apologetic. "We have to go – we've got a mission of our own."

"Garden-weeding? House-painting? Or maybe it's a preemptive strike against that damn cat," suggested Anko, gesturing to the happily purring bundle in Hinata's arms.

"Scroll-delivering, actually. We're going to the border of Fire and Grass."

Though she was trying to hide it – after all, she genuinely liked both Kakashi and Anko, however weird they happened to be – there was a note of smugness in her voice. _Your team is still stuck doing D-ranks_.

"Good luck to you, then," Anko replied, suddenly cheerful. "Goodbye!"

Kurenai – slightly confused – accompanied her team out of sight. Anko's cheerful smile disappeared.

"Ooh, she gets on my fucking nerves sometimes! Let's hurry up and take this damn cat back… and then we are getting a C-rank if it's the last thing I do!"

* * *

"Really?"

"Yes, sir. I honestly think Team Alpha is ready for a mission of greater caliber than a D-rank," Anko said firmly. Sarutobi looked at the tokubetsu jounin with a critical eye.

"And Kakashi-kun? What are your thoughts on the matter?"

Anko's face didn't change, but inside she was panicking. She hadn't even asked Kakashi what he thought – she had just stormed up here, cannons blazing, with no thought to her co-teacher. She knew that the copy-nin was held in high regard with the Hokage; plus, he was a higher rank than herself, just a mere special jounin. Fuck!

"Hokage-sama… it is my belief that Team Alpha is ready for a C-rank mission."

Anko blew an inward sigh of relief and vowed to buy Kakashi a drink the next time they went out with the other jounin. He had just saved her from major humiliation in front of the Hokage. The lines around Sarutobi's eyes crinkled as he smiled down at the three genin.

"Well, if you the endorsement of both your teachers, I will be happy to assign your first C-rank mission."

Naruto was grinning, Sasuke was smirking, and even Hinata had a small smile on her face.

"A client has just arrived, needing an escort back to his home village," said Sarutobi. "Please, Tazuna-san, come and meet your escort."

The door opened.

* * *

Believe it or not, that was a cliffhanger.


	5. the mission that never was

Argh, this was late! Sorry. I should just stop trying to make deadlines for myself. I fail them all anyway.

I love how everybody thought there was going to be Wave arc. So cute.

And lil.ramen.lover, you better not be reading this unless your exam is over. I'M WARNING YOU.

* * *

**Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Five: The Mission That Never Was_

* * *

Naruto expected a daimyo, or a pirate, or _something_. Hell - something impressive! Some_one_ worth fighting for, worth risking his life for! He expected this mission to be important and life-changing, bringing his team closer and teaching them some life lessons. Or something.

What he got was a crotchety old man with a temper and none of the grandfather's warmth Sarutobi had. His clothes were stained and smelly; he carried a sake bottle in one hand and another one was attached to his belt. And he was glaring at them.

"This is really a ninja team? Two of them are half-blind!" The drunk's glare attempted to pierce Hinata and Kakashi and failed miserably, most likely because his eyes were unfocused and bloodshot. Sasuke rolled his eyes and suppressed a snort; Naruto had no such qualms.

"You know, it's very bad form to come to the Hokage's office drunk, sir," said Kakashi with what must have been a friendly smile. "You might give us the impression that your mission is not that important to you, or that it's there is something incorrect in the information you have given us. You might give us the impression that you're hiding something, in short."

While his words were meant to keep him from continuing to insult the genin, they had another, unintended side effect: Tazuna stiffened immediately, spluttering over his words and his jug of sake.

"What – I- I – I would never – how ridiculous –"

His body language told everyone what he was not. Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. "Is there something you would like to share with us, Tazuna-san?"

"No, sir! I am so sorry for complaining about the team – my apologies –"

A chuunin slipped in through the window and laid a scroll in front of the Hokage with a bow. The old man nodded in return and opened it, ignoring the rapidly panicking Tazuna for a few moments. He sighed when he finished reading it, and then made a gesture with his hand. Two chuunin appeared, also bowing.

"Please escort Tazuna-san to Penitentiary of the Fan," said Sarutobi, referencing the prison that had been named in memoriam of the Uchiha clan. "Lying to the Hokage is bad enough, but endangering our genin? Unforgiveable." The glare the Hokage leveled on the bridge builder was filled with venom that Naruto had never seen. "Minimum sentence for this offense is a five-year incarceration. Since I can see you did this out of genuine lack of funds, I will allow the minimum to be carried out. But if you ever attempt to sabotage this village's younger ninja, I will _personally_ make sure that you are not fit to do so again."

Tazuna was dragged away by his chuunin guards, screaming about his family and some man named Gatou and flailing around wildly. Team Alpha stared after him.

"Well, I suppose that a C-rank mission will have to wait a little longer," said Sarutobi. He was transformed into kindly grandfather once more. "How does house painting sound for today?"

"Jii-saaaaan!"

* * *

Team Alpha painted a house. And then they walked dogs for the local animal shelter. And then they weeded gardens.

They had easily completed three D-rank missions in the space of a few hours. All of them were ready for a new challenge.

"This is such a waste of time," Sasuke murmured as the woman who's garden they had weeded waved them away. She kept an eye on Naruto's retreating back, as if expecting him to leap back and attack her, for some strange reason. His onyx eyes slid over Naruto's face, which was for once devoid of energy. Oh yeah. Demon fox. Sasuke too often thought of Naruto's burden in terms of the power it brought, not the hateful stares of people who'd had friends and relatives killed by the beast.

"For once, we agree," said Naruto morosely. "I need a C-rank mission, stat!" He pantomimed dying in the street, his bad mood evaporating as Hinata giggled very, very softly. She still felt uncomfortable showing her emotions in such a public place but she was making excellent progress.

It scared her.

Trust and happiness were such far-seeming dreams for Hinata because of those people she'd known in the past. Some of them had seemed like fast and true friends and then had turned around and abandoned her when they found out about her… condition. She was a marked child. People didn't want the association. She was worried – what would these people do once they found out? Would they reject her as well?

But this feeling… this feeling she got with them. It was different. It wasn't like before. There had always been an uneasiness in most of her previous interactions with humans, an uneasiness she had thought stemmed from her early treatment at the hands of her captors, an uneasiness she had thought she would never be rid of. But these two boys, and her two teachers, didn't make her feel that way. It was strange.

Her thoughts carried over into the next day and she was pensive and withdrawn throughout training.

"Arriving!"

After two hours of warming up by themselves, the three genin were joined by Anko at seven. Kakashi arrived anywhere from half an hour to three hours after seven.

"I've got a surprise for you three!" cheered Anko with a grin. "You'll never guess what it is!"

"A C-rank mission?" guessed Sasuke. She glared.

"How did you know?!"

"What else could get you excited other than the prospect of possible violence?"

"He almost knows you too well!"

Kakashi appeared behind Anko. His three students stared at him.

"What… the hell…?" Naruto managed. "Kakashi-sensei, you're on time!"

"Yeah, he's rarely late for missions, or else Hokage-sama gets a little upset."

"But he's late for D-rank missions all the time!" said Naruto indignantly.

"Real missions, brat, real missions. Alright, you've got thirty minutes to go home, pack for a two-week trip, and then meet us at the front gate. Got it?"

"Yes, sensei!" Naruto was practically jumping with excitement.

Hinata nodded.

"Hn."

"What was that, Sasuke-_kun_?"

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

"Naruto-san, you over-packed," said Hinata quietly. They were the first two to arrive at the gate. Naruto's pack was bulging and humongous; he was straining just to keep it on his back. "We are only to be gone two weeks."

"I know! But I was really excited! I can't help it." He looked down at his feet, a bit ashamed. There was a bit of smile on Hinata's lips as she looked at him, but he didn't see.

"I can help you, if you want," she said. "Let's go through it."

"Hinata-chan, you don't have a pack at all! Aren't you under-packed?"

"No… I'm used to surviving with next to nothing. It's habit to under-pack for me."

They spent the better part of ten minutes going through all of his things, and by the end had reduced its size by 85 percent. Naruto sent several shadow clones back to his apartment with the extras in tow and waited for them to dispel themselves so he would know his things were safe. That was one of the jutsu he'd learned from the Forbidden Scroll, but that last little trick Hinata had taught him. As soon as she had told him and pointed out the obvious advantages that came with the jutsu, it had become an invaluable resource for studying, something he hated doing. The time could now be cut in half or more depending on how many clones he used. The downside, however, was that there was no practical experience to go along with the knowledge gained. He figured it would work better with a jutsu.

By this time, both Anko and Sasuke had arrived. Kakashi was only a minute late. Anko, surprising all of her students, merely sighed.

"Our mission is to go to Sunagakure and be assigned border duty by the Kazekage or one of his subordinates."

"We're going to another village to do another boring mission?" complained Naruto instantly. "Why don't we just have border patrol here in Konoha? Then at least I know that I care about what I'm patrolling."

"It's a sign of trust and good faith when another Kage allows foreign ninja to take border duty in his country," said Kakashi. "The Kazekage clearly wants to strengthen ties with Konoha."

Naruto looked away, still skeptical.

"It's a three-day hike to Sunagakure, ninja speed," said Anko. "So it's time to get going!"

* * *

Three days later, they reached Sunagakure no Sato. Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata were transfixed. It was a city so different from their own it was hard not to stare. The entire thing was a big hole in the ground. All of the buildings were carved out of stone, not built out of wood, and many of them had sphere-shaped tops. Everything was a dusty brown color. Even the shinobi were wearing combinations of brown and other colors that blended into the desert scenery perfectly. The shinobi here were different, Hinata noted, not only in dress but in attitude. They were grim and quiet, unlike the semi-normal and quirky ninja of Konoha. There was certainly no equivalent to Gai or Anko here. They were too loud.

While Anko's violent hyperactivity had disappeared out of professionalism, Naruto's had gone out of instinct. There was a powerful being here, one similar to the Kyuubi. The big, useless lump was taking a nap at the moment so he was unable to figure out what it was exactly. But it put him on edge.

They made it to the Kazekage's office with the help of a near-emaciated male ninja with two wing-like devices attached to his back.

"Welcome to Suna," said the Kazekage coldly, not sounding very welcoming at all. Naruto stiffened his spine as if on cue. This man gave him the creeps; combine that with the other energy that was hovering on the edge of his awareness and it made Naruto a very nervous ninja. His teammates and teachers, however, seemed unaffected – well, maybe Sasuke was standing a little more stiffly than usual, but the relaxed facades of Kakashi, Anko, and Hinata told him that they had all been in similar situations before. He wondered, yet again, what Hinata had gone through before she came to Konoha.

"I hope you have studied the rules of my village accurately. We do not tolerate mistakes here, especially not from ignorant foreigners. My jounin Baki will accompany you to the place which you have been assigned, along with another team of my ninja. Even allies must take precautions, yes?"

The question was so obviously rhetorical that Naruto wanted to roll his eyes. He refrained, mostly because he didn't want to die and also because he felt the mystery energy coming closer. In fact, it was right outside the window if he 'felt' correctly.

"Get Temari, Kankurou, and _Gaara_ in here," said the Kazekage. He put special emphasis on the final name, as if it were a curse. There was a whirl of sand – Naruto was momentarily confused, because there was no wind to pick it up – which eventually died down, revealing a boy around their age, maybe slightly younger. His clothes were average desert wear except perhaps for the fact that his bodysuit was a dark black and not sandy brown. He wore a large gourd on his back that pulsed with energy Naruto categorized as demon energy, or youki. His hair was blood red, and it slightly obscured what looked like a tattoo on his forehead. Cold teal eyes glared at them from behind his hair, outlined by thick black. Naruto couldn't tell if the black was kohl or the result of many nights' lost sleep. He did know, however, that this was the phantom energy that had been hanging around his conscious.

_**HELLO. **_

_I really wish you gave me some warning before you did that, hissed Naruto angrily to the Kyuubi. Who knows what would happen if I lost my cool around this nut? _

_**THE KAZEKAGE OR HIS SON? **_

_Eh?_

_**THE REDHEAD IS THE SON OF THE KAZEKAGE. OH, HE'S A JINCHUURIKI AS WELL. ICHIBI NO SHUKAKU. **_

_Pfft, one tail? No problem. _

_**AHH, BUT THERE IS, KITLING. HIS SEAL IS INFINITELY WEAKER THAN YOURS, AND, THUS, HE HAS MUCH GREATER ACCESS TO ICHIBI'S POWER. OH, WHAT I WOULDN'T GIVE FOR A SEAL LIKE THAT… SO CLOSE TO FREEDOM, SO CLOSE TO RENDING FLESH WITH MY OWN TEETH AND CLAWS – **_

_Alright, alright, no need to get off right in front of me, muttered Naruto, blocking his gag reflex. So does that mean that this kid is unstable? _

_**ESSENTIALLY. I CAN FEEL SHUKAKU CLAWING AT HIS MENTAL WALLS CONSTANTLY. IT LOOKS LIKE GAARA-KUN HAS NEVER SLEPT AT ALL. **_

_So that isn't makeup. _

_**NO, HE'S NOT QUITE TO THAT POINT. HIS BROTHER, ON THE OTHER HAND…**_

_Eh? _Naruto repeated, but the Kyuubi was already gone. He turned his attention to the young shinobi who had just walked in and understood what the fuzzball was talking about. The boy, apparently Gaara's brother, was wearing kabuki makeup and had something like a mummy strapped to his back. Their final Sungakure companion was a girl with her dirty blonde hair in four spiky ponytails dressed in fishnet and light purple. A large fan was on her back.

"Gaara, Kankurou, Temari," said Baki shortly, pointing each of them out in turn. "Names?"

"Mitarashi Anko, Hatake Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata," drawled Kakashi lazily. Naruto thought he had purposefully left their surnames out while saying his own so that their attention was on him. After all, the name Hatake was infamous, especially in the Hidden Sand – or so he had read. He'd been doing a lot more reading lately. According to _Konoha's Greatest: A History_, someone named Hatake Sakumo had killed a prominent sand ninja. Naruto wondered how Hatake Sakumo was related to his sensei.

"We'll be departing at the entrance to the village in fifteen minutes," said Baki. "Meet us there by that time."

"Thank you for your time, Kazekage-sama," said Kakashi as he lead them out of the room.

Only once they were safely out in the fresh air did Naruto let loose a small whoosh of relieved air. Kakashi ruffled his hair.

"Glad to be out of there, eh?"

* * *

It had taken them a few hours to reach the Kusa no Kuni border from Sunagakure. The desert had eventually petered out to golden plains with sparse greenery, which stretched for some time. The team from Sand had been completely silent, except for their leader, Baki, who occasionally grunted instructions. Naruto found it an extremely frustrating change from his usual atmosphere. Not only was their no talking whatsoever, Hinata had closed off again – and after all of their hard work they had made toward bringing her out of her shell. It bothered him intensely to see her eye shutter like a window, leaving it devoid of the glimmering sheen that had become commonplace, but he couldn't tell why out of all things that cut him the deepest.

"Time to set up our shifts!" said Kakashi with a cheerfulness that he only used one other time – whenever they were in for a particularly brutal day of training. Naruto suppressed a groan.

"If you don't mind…?" he asked Baki. The Suna jounin grunted, which he took for affirmation. "Alright then! First shift is Naruto, Kankurou-san, and Sasuke. Second is Hinata, Temari-san, and Anko. Third is me, Baki-san, and Gaara-san."

The redhead snorted disdainfully.

"Gaara does not require sleep," said Baki shortly. "He will, essentially, be on every shift."

"I see," said Kakashi, still chipper. "Then I suppose you and I will take the third shift as a pair. Now, if you could explain to us the protocol for camping in this neck of the woods, so to speak, that would be excellent."

Baki ground out certain rules for camping on the plains, what to do in case of enemy attack, and other things in his gravelly, perpetually annoyed voice. The irritation was mostly directed at their cluelessness concerning Suna protocol, Naruto thought, but what did he expect? A crash course in the etiquette of Konoha's allies in the Academy? His attention slipped off of Baki and into his mind, where the Kyuubi provided much more useful information.

_Tell me about Ichibi._

_**HMPH. A LOW-CLASS TANUKI WHO BECAME UNSATISFIED WITH HIS LOT IN THE DEMONIC HIERARCHY. **_

_Tanuki?_

_**PRANKSTERS AND SHAPESHIFTERS, GENERALLY. NOT AS ESTEEMED AS KITSUNE, OF COURSE, BUT THEY DO MANAGE TO HENGE. THEY HAVE TWO COMMON FORMS: TEAKETTLE AND MONK. BOTH ARE USED TO PLAY TRICKS ON PEOPLE. PETTY THINGS, NATURALLY. NOTHING SO FAR-REACHING OR POWERFUL AS –**_

_Yeah, yeah, kitsune are the best. I get it. _

_**SHUKAKU GAINED HIS POWERFUL ONE-TAIL, WHICH EVENTUALLY DROVE HIM INSANE WITH POWER, MUCH IN THE SAME WAY THE TAILED BEASTS HAVE GAINED THEIR TAILS IN CENTURIES PAST.**_

_How's that?_

_**BY CHALLENGING, DEFEATING, AND ULTIMATELY DEVOURING ITS PREDECESSOR. **_

…_That's one method. I don't think I could do that with Jii-san, though._

_**YOU DON'T KNOW UNTIL YOU TRY. HOKAGE ARE QUITE DELICIOUS. **_

_Is that how you gained your tails, then? _

_**OF COURSE NOT. **_The beast sounded appalled at the very idea._**I WAS CREATED AS I AM, A STANDARD TO WHICH ALL OTHER TAILED BEASTS TRY – AND FAIL – TO SURPASS.**_

_Created? You mean, born?  
_

_**NO. I DO NOT.**_

And he would say no more for the rest of the evening. Naruto brooded throughout his shift with Sasuke and Kankurou, who were both brooders anyway, so they barely noticed. Barely being the key word.

"Naruto."

The blonde almost didn't turn, because he was so used to Sasuke calling him by the ever-hated, demeaning nickname of dobe. But even Sasuke had sensed that this was not a situation in which they should show any team weakness to their allies. He would save the name-calling for later, when there was no chance of the Kabuki boy – Kankurou might've been his name – or his siblings overhearing them.

"Why are you brooding?"

"I am not brooding!"

Sasuke looked at him. "Do you even know who you're talking to? Uchiha Sasuke. If anybody knows a brooder when he sees one, it's me, got it?"

Naruto snorted. "When did you get so… reasonable?"

"Trying to understand Hinata. I like understanding things… and when I don't understand something, I don't like it. So I tried to understand Hinata."

"Eh?"

"Yep. So when that didn't work, I figured you would be an easier nut to crack." He smirked. "You're just practice leading up to the big finale."

"Understand her?" Naruto's attention was caught.

"Yeah. Understand her. Find out why she acts the way she does."

"Not that I don't think it's a good idea… but why? Why do you care?"

"She's not like the other girls," Sasuke said after a moment of silence. "She's… different. I've never _not _understood a female. Sakura and Ino and pretty easy to figure out, you know? But Hinata… Hinata is special. I can't explain it. I can't explain the feeling."

"Sounds like somebody's in loooooove!"

"Ah, shut up, dobe," snapped Sasuke, reverting to their old nickname system. "As if you're any better!"

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You fall over yourself to help her all the time! And you totally make a fool out of yourself just to make her smile. It's so obvious," said Sasuke in a highly disdainful tone that hid something Naruto wasn't sure he was ready to find.

"Just cause I'm a decent person doesn't mean I'm crushing on her," Naruto said, quite calmly. "You, on the other hand, paying a speck of attention to any female besides Anko is suspect."

"Hmph. Our shift is almost over. I will go and wake Hinata," he said imperiously as he stood up and walked away. Naruto rolled his eyes and smirked until he realized he had to wake Anko.

"Ah, shit."

He went to bed sporting a large, painful bump on his head, courtesy his female sensei, and nursing another little grudge against Sasuke – something to add to his list of grievances against the Avenger.

Kankurou observed them silently, soaking in everything he could about the Konoha team's dynamic. Who knew when information like this would be imperative to the success of their greater mission of invasion – and ultimately, to the restoration of the greatness of Sunagakure no Sato.

* * *

"You're awfully quiet for a Konoha shinobi," said the blonde girl experimentally, looking over at Hinata. The slight girl gave the barest of shrugs and did not let go her vigilant gaze of the surrounding plains.

"You're kinda small as well," continued Temari, hoping to prod the brunette into speaking. There were several moments of silence and she almost turned away again, until Hinata answered her.

"You're somewhat obnoxious for a Suna shinobi," Hinata murmured quietly back at her, so quiet that she almost didn't hear it. Anko grinned from the sidelines across the camp, unseen. Hinata's backbone was growing. "Is there a reason you are speaking to me, besides perhaps for your own amusement?"

"Is there anything wrong with getting to know one's allies?"

"You don't exactly seem the type." Her gaze still didn't falter. Temari frowned.

"What could you possibly know about me? You didn't meet me until half a day ago!"

Hinata shrugged. "Plenty."

"Oh? Enlighten me."

"You are a blonde female of approximately fifteen years of age who is specialized in wind-based attacks – but I suppose anyone could tell you that by looking at you. You are a cynical and jaded person, the daughter of a cruel Kazekage. As the oldest, you feel responsible for both of your younger brothers, but your fear of one cripples your ability to do your duty. Your team is hiding something from my team, though what I am not sure."

Temari tried not to show her obvious shock and her thoughts - that just several weeks from now, they were planning to betray Konoha. "And what of my brother?"

"Which one?"

"…Kankurou," she replied, losing nerve at the last second.

"He is one year younger than you, and carries a puppet on his back that he calls Karasu. From what I've observed of his posture and outfit, he has scrolls stashed away somewhere, presumably to summon more puppets. I've also assumed from observation that he is a skilled puppeteer, though I can't be sure until I've seen him in action. He fears a sibling as well, but that fear, unlike yours, is tinged with hatred and jealously."

Temari was staring at her. "And Gaara?"

"Gaara," said Hinata slowly. "I see…I see a lonely boy whose mind has been corrupted by a demon, a powerless boy in a situation beyond his control. A jinchuuriki."

The older girl was completely dumbstruck. Nobody had ever spoken of Gaara in that way – like it was not his fault. It was _always _his fault.

"Do you know the power of human sacrifice?" asked Hinata quietly.

Temari said nothing else for the remainder of their shift.

Anko's grin had disappeared completely, replaced by a look of contemplation. When she thought she was finally starting to understand the girl, she had to go and say something like that…

* * *

Kakashi paged through his orange-covered book eagerly, giggling like a schoolgirl. Baki rolled his eyes. Leaf jounin really had declined in quality since the last ninja war. With the Yondaime dead they had taken another hit, being run by a fool too old for his job. Their invasion would undoubtedly be a successful one with the help of Otogakure and Orochimaru. Behold, the great Copycat Kakashi… ugh.

Page fifty-two of the Konoha Bingo Book: Baki of Sungakure no Sato, surname unknown, perhaps dropped purposefully. Specialized in taijutsu and wind-based attacks. Wards included Sabaku no Gaara and siblings, the children of the Yondaime Kazekage. Following that information was a list of basic statistics about his gen, nin, and taijutsu skills as well as certain attacks of his that had been compiled.

Kakashi grinned. Kurenai's idea really had been ingenious.

* * *

The next day dawned bright and cold.

Temari was noticeably subdued. Baki seemed even more disdainful than he had on the previous day, most likely due to the fact that Kakashi had seemed a bit of useless pervert during their shift. Anko was in a rare mood of distracted quiet. Naruto was in a similar state, reflecting on Sasuke's comments last night, and Sasuke was avoiding Naruto in the hopes of dodging any sticky questions the blonde may have thought of. The other half of their team seemed quite unaffected – Gaara, Kankurou, Kakashi and Hinata were much the same as the day before.

The point of the mission, as it turned out, was to walk along the border of Kusa and Suna, and make sure that there was no strange activity.

Naruto translated this fact as approximately one week of totally uncomfortable boredom. This mission really sucked. He almost wished that that Tazuna guy hadn't been found out and that he could've gone to Wave country and fought real enemies.

The first day was uneventful. The second day was the same. The third, fourth, and fifth days were similarly monotonous. Naruto was dying. When was something going to happen?

On the sixth day, his wish was granted.

It was nearing the end of their day's walk when they were ambushed. Twenty shinobi, village unknown, had sprung up from the ground directly in front of them. All of them looked sort of ragtag, implying that they could be mercenary ninja. Hinata, who had been taking point, was only about a foot away from the leader.

"Excellent," he sneered. "We'll just be taking the girl and leaving, then!"

He made to grab Hinata, but she was too fast. Several senbon whizzed out of her hand to several points on his body, temporarily paralyzing him. He fell to the ground with a strangled grunt.

"Nice hit, Hinata-chan," called Anko. "Dibs on next one!"

"You little brat!" howled the man closest to Hinata. "Look what you've done to our leader!"

"If I've done that to your leader… imagine what all of us will do to the rest of you," Hinata said with a small smirk.

Naruto looked over Hinata. She was an altogether different person on the battlefield. All the ghost-smiling and the gazing blankly into nothing had disappeared. This was, apparently, where she thrived – she was confident. Her stance told him that she had done this many times before; her hand was held easily at her side, right next to a hidden pocket in her tunic which held more senbon, her favored weapon. But there was something off about her. As if coinciding with his thoughts, Hinata's shoulder twitched slightly, and she reached up to scratch something out of sight on her neck, under all of her layers. He craned his neck –

"Naruto! Pay attention!" Kakashi called in reprimand. He scowled at him and focused. He would figure it out later.

The ground underneath them shook threateningly. A hand popped out of the ground next to Hinata's ankle and attempted to grab it but again, she was too fast.

"They're underneath us," said Kankurou.

"Thank you, captain obvious!" Temari snarled back. She was getting nervous.

"Just like the sand wyrms," he continued anyway.

"Sand wyrms… they live in tunnels they make under the desert, correct?" asked Kakashi politely. He transferred chakra to his feet, making them extra sensitive. If there were any vibrations, he would feel them. Anko, Baki, Kankurou, Sasuke, and Temari followed his example. Naruto was too distracted by the nimbly dancing feet of Hinata's near-dance to focus that much, especially with his chakra reserves. Gaara just didn't care.

"Yes… there are also similar species in grass country that are more adapted to the ground here," said Baki. "It would appear these ninja have created a technique that imitates the wyrms."

Hinata jumped again. Their attackers were targeting her for some reason.

"Should we split up to prevent such a big target?" Anko murmured to Kakashi, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"If we do, we run the risk of being picked off one by one."

"Should we break into small groups, then?"

"Right." Kakashi looked at Baki, who shook his head. "We'll have our own plan," he said coldly. Kakashi sighed in annoyance.

"Whatever. Anko, get Hinata. Boys, pair off. I'll be fine on my own. Now scatter and take them out a ninja at a time. Remember, we've got the quality over quantity advantage!"

Naruto and Sasuke immediately rushed the nearest ninja, a man with a nasty scar running through his lower lip. He grinned cruelly at them.

"You little boys don't stand a snowball's chan –" His remaining words were cut off by Naruto's fist to his face. He went down hard and didn't get up; the punch had knocked him clean out.

"I'll watch from above, you pay attention to below," Naruto snapped at his teammate absently. "I haven't got the control right now to do both."

"Right."

They ducked and weaved in and out of the invaders, taking them one by one as Kakashi had instructed. Their combined skills took out five more ninja in a matter of minutes. Sasuke briefly turned back as Naruto started on another shinobi to see what the team from Sand was doing about this problem. He gritted his teeth angrily as he saw Gaara merely lift all of them slightly off the ground with a platform made of sand. The hardened base did not allow for any attacks to surprise them from the bottom. Gaara also used his sand to deflect weapons from hitting them. Sasuke wondered bitterly if Kankurou, Temari or Baki had any real ninja skill or if Gaara just did everything for them.

"Kugutsu no jutsu," he saw Kankurou mouth as he sent his creepy-looking puppet, Karasu, out into the field. Using chakra strings to manipulate its movement, he had soon cleared a ten meter range around his group. All of the twenty original ninja that had attacked them were down, but replacements kept popping up from the earth like a demented game of Whack-a-Mole.

Okay, so Kankurou was good. But Temari and Baki –

"Daikamaitachi no jutsu!" Temari had whipped out her fan and cleared a path even farther ahead of her brother. Sasuke felt the powerful wind rushing past his ears but unlike the enemies around him, he didn't get sliced into ribbons. Her control was amazing.

So Baki was the weak link, eh? No. He wasn't quite as stupid as Naruto. The jounin was obviously holding back, letting his students test the waters themselves. He had probably done this on the orders of the Kazekage. Sasuke also noticed that despite their violent attacks, Kankurou and Temari were sure to draw as little blood as possible. They didn't seem the type to care, but he shrugged it off.

"Uke-teme! Watch what you're doing!" Naruto hissed at him as another ninja popped out from under the ground not one step away from the two Konoha genin. "A little warning would've been useful!"

Hurling two kunai at the unexpected opponent, Sasuke distracted him long enough so that Naruto could quickly jump up and knock him out at the neck. He turned on Naruto, completely livid.

"_Uke-teme?!"_

Naruto smirked devilishly, comfortable with this sort of joking in the heat of a battle. "That's what I said, isn't it?"

"I'll pound your face into the ground when I've got a second, remember that," the Avenger ground out.

"Sure, sure, keep on talking…"

Meanwhile, Hinata and Anko were also making short work of the enemy, which was a good thing as Hinata was their primary target. Anko would start by catching their opponent with a painful kick or punch and then Hinata would throw a needle at a pressure point, usually at the neck, to poleax him. Without warning, ten shinobi popped up around them. Hinata caught a glimpse of the symbol of Village Hidden in the Grass on one man's shirt.

"They're from Kusa," she murmured to Anko. She nodded grimly. "I thought so. Their fighting style is something I've seen in other Kusagakure ninja."

"You're not as slow as you look," sneered one man. "Attack!"

Unlike the others who had assaulted them, this group seemed to have special training to work together and were consequently much harder to take down than their counterparts. Anko suppressed a growl as one of them copped a feel, leering at her. A crushing kick below the waist soon cured him of his smirk.

Hinata was faring little better. She was quick, but they had numbers and experience on their side. Her breath caught when a hail of senbon grazed her left arm. One of them became impaled in her thick, metallic bracelet they were being thrown with such force. By chance, a stray kunai shoved it deeper, creating a crack in the bracelet. She collapsed.

Every single fighter on the battlefield turned and stared at the huge chakra burst that erupted from such a small, delicate-looking girl. Hinata screamed in pain. There was too much chakra, her coils, as big as they were, couldn't handle it. No person resumed any action; all attention was riveted on the suffering Hinata.

She crumpled further and was then was completely still.

"_Sen'eijashu_," hissed Anko angrily, assuming that they had done whatever it was on purpose. She made a punching motion toward the enemy and ten snakes leapt out of nowhere and set upon the necks of each opposing ninja, constricting tightly and sinking their poisoned fangs in for good measure. As soon as they were down – not just unconscious, but good and dead – Anko turned to her vulnerable student.

"Hinata, can you hear me?" She moved the girl's body so that she was lying with her face upward. Hinata was moaning feverishly and her face was flushed red.

"Shit! She's burning up!"

"Anko."

She looked up. Kakashi was right in front of her. "What happened?"

"These bracelets of hers… one of them was damaged, and then she fell. I don't know what the hell is going on," said Anko angrily, upset that she couldn't do anything.

Suddenly Hinata went very still. The fever subsided almost simultaneously. Kakashi turned to defend the two females from any attack.

"Try and help her. I've got your back."

Anko put her head to Hinata's chest; her heartbeat was wild and erratic at first, and then it slowed to the level tempo she was so familiar with. Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump…

Hinata's eye fluttered open. Anko frowned at it. There was something off about the color of her eye. It looked like it was glowing, as if filled with a dark fire. A ring of dark purple formed around its edge and her chakra was tainted by something. Anko took an instinctive step back. Little cloud-like shapes of black moved across Hinata's left cheek, slowly inching their way to the other side of her face. Slowly she stood up, with a cruel smirk that was in complete opposition to her normal personality.

"Fuck! Kakashi, she's been sealed! She's been touched by Orochimaru!"

* * *

And how's that for an ending? Bam!

_Jutsu fun…_

**Kugustu no jutsu:** Puppet technique.

**Daikamaitachi no jutsu: **Great Cutting Whirlwind Technique

**Sen'eijashu:** Hidden Shadow Snake Hand


	6. a kidnapping, a meeting, a reunion

Did anybody else have trouble logging in? I tried to, and as soon as I clicked the Documents link, it said it was invalid and that I needed to login. This site is seriously starting to piss me off.

Woulda had this out earlier…but my computer froze and I had to restart it, thus losing all progress on this chapter! #! Grrr! Seriously, I was swearing up a storm. And screw the whole once a week thing. I just FAIL.

So as you can see, I'm not in a good mood. I do hope y'all enjoy, though!

* * *

**Strange Kismet**_  
Chapter Six: A Kidnapping, A Meeting, A Reunion_

* * *

_Last time…_

_Hinata's eye fluttered open. Anko frowned at it. There was something off about the color of her eye. It looked like it was glowing, as if filled with a dark fire. A ring of dark purple formed around its edge and her chakra was tainted by something. Anko took an instinctive step back. Little cloud-like shapes of black moved across Hinata's left cheek, slowly inching their way to the other side of her face. Slowly she stood up, with a cruel smirk that was in complete opposition to her normal personality. _

"_Fuck! Kakashi, she's been sealed! She's been touched by Orochimaru!"_

--

Naruto froze mid-movement as he heard his sensei's yell across the battlefield. Sealed, sealed… what did that mean to her? Sealed like there was something sealed inside her? Like a bijuu? No, Kyuubi would've known. It would've been like the situation with Gaara. But Orochimaru – that name sounded so familiar. Where had he heard it? Maybe in his sudden studying spree –

"Naruto! What the hell!"

Sasuke, who was currently under attack, didn't appreciate his teammate's sudden stillness very much. They were on a battlefield, for Kage's sake, not a playground! Naruto snapped out of his trance and moved to take down the man who was assaulting Sasuke. His precious few seconds of inaction had cost him however, and the man he hit disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Something hit him hard in the back and he went flying far outside the perimeter of the battle. His body bounced on the ground painfully three times before sliding to an equally painful halt. Naruto slowly heaved himself up. He barely noticed the rejuvenating red chakra that flooded his body.

"_Ouch_," He hissed angrily, searching for the perpetrator as red bled into his sky blue eyes, tinting them plum-colored. But again he froze. Another figure was tearing across the battlefield. He thought it might've been Hinata – if Hinata could be that… vicious. By the look on her face, Naruto thought grimly as he charged back in, she was enjoying what she was doing immensely. It really was unlike her to be so violent – where he would've punched, she now stabbed; where he would've sprained wrists, she now snapped them with the glee of a born killer. That was not Hinata, he thought, as he got closer.

"Naruto! _WHAT THE HELL!_"

Apparently, Sasuke couldn't go thirty seconds without getting into trouble and needing his help to get out of said trouble. Grumbling under his breath, Naruto changed course from Hinata to Sasuke. He saw Kakashi and Anko move toward Hinata and felt his fears ease. They would take care of it. They could get her back to normal.

He took out the man who was poised above Sasuke with kunai. The Avenger glared at him from the ground before standing up and wiping the blood away from his mouth.

"Do you know what a team is?" Sasuke growled at him. "Two or more people working collectively to accomplish a goal! And right now we're failing that goal! So if you could please get your damn act together –" Now Sasuke was the frozen one, transfixed on something over Naruto's shoulder.

"You damn hypocrite!"

"No, look –"

All of their opponents seemed to have given up on anyone who wasn't Hinata. There were at least twenty shinobi currently rushing at her, Kakashi and Anko being among that number. That wasn't altogether strange – just the fact that Hinata had collapsed on the ground, oozing a strange, dark chakra in such thick, copious amounts that it was visible had them staring.

"What is wrong with her?" For once, there was no arrogant bite to Sasuke's voice or a sneer on his face. It seemed as though he was actually worried about something that didn't involve himself. That was a first, Naruto thought to himself. He didn't say anything out loud, and Sasuke became impatient.

"So what should we do?" It looked like Kakashi and Anko were doing fine dispatching the attackers.

"We could help," Naruto said, feeling quite useless.

"Not on your life, brat!"

Something hit him in the back of the neck. The next thing he knew was darkness.

* * *

When Temari came to, she was cold and aching like mad. Heavy bracelets chafed her ankles and wrists. Her head was pounding painfully.

"Ugh…"

"You're finally up."

"Kankurou?" She blinked her eyes blearily. They were in some sort of underground containment center. She was with Baki and Kankurou – it looked as though both of them had regained consciousness before her, she thought with annoyance – in a small cell that just barely held them with room for comfort.

"Please, continue to be unconscious for as long as you like, it's not like our lives are in danger or anything."

"Baka!" She moved to hit him but the chains didn't stretch far enough. "I have a smaller body mass than you do, if they used the same dose it'll be more potent on me! I thought you knew your way around poisons."

He only snorted and looked away. Baki was silent. He looked to be deep in thought and showed no signs of stirring.

"Where's Gaara?"

"No idea. I was surprised they got him down at all…"

"What? How?"

"Gas. They knew they couldn't pierce skin with him, so they used an extremely potent paralyzing gas instead. We've got no clue where he is."

"Fuck!" Temari swore. "We're in a great mess then, aren't we!"

"Yeah, we're screwed," Kankurou agreed. Both of them exchanged an ashamed glance. They knew they'd been relying on Gaara too much. He did all the work – well, it was mostly killing, and it wasn't like he minded it, but he was still the one who did most of it. Now they didn't have their greatest trump card – whoever was holding them captive was probably keeping Gaara as heavily under the poison as possible without knocking him out. Of course, that was providing that they knew what a threat he became when he was sleeping…

They spent the next week in their cell. Once a day, several different people would bring food to their cell and take them to toilets – little better than holes in the floor, but it sure beat letting their feces collect in the cage. Apparently, they were supposed to keep their cell as clean as possible. A thought occurred belatedly to Temari after this week had passed.

"What about the Konoha team?"

"Who the fuck cares? They're probably already dead and we would've killed them in a few months anyway."

"Kankurou! And what would you have done if one of them waltzed in here right now?"

"Doesn't really matter now, does it?" he said with a sneer. "I'm sure the invasion will go through without us."

"Without us, maybe, but not without Gaara," Temari said grimly. "Father needs him enough -"

"Orochimaru needs him enough," Baki said, interrupting her. "Your father… I believe he's been under the control of the Hebi-Sannin for some time now…"

"And you didn't see fit to tell us this? Are you crazy?!"

"What good would it have done, Temari? Even if I'd told you or anybody else, Orochimaru, using your father, would've ordered us killed before we could do anything. Kazekage-sama signed a contract with a devil, and now Sungakure no Sato must pay the consequences."

"My, that _is _an interesting story!"

All three of the caged ninja froze at the familiar voice. Hinata stepped out of the shadows. Her gray tunic and her sandals were missing, leaving only her black shirt, black pants, and mesh underbody. She looked a little beat up but she was smirking in an extremely satisfied way.

"I knew something was wrong with you…" she said, voice nearly a purr as she stalked around their cage like a predator circling prey. "Even _she _noticed it…"

'She'? Anko noticed too? Shit, was it that obvious? Temari leaned forward a bit to look Hinata in the face. Her eye was different. Instead of the mysterious, veiled white-purple shade they had seen previously, her eye was dark, dark purple, nearly black. There was also an edge of malice to her features that had been absent previously. Except for the last few minutes on the battlefield, that is.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone," she said sweetly, taking in their stunned features. "Not even Hinata."

Kankurou looked at her strangely. "You _are_ –"

"What is your name?" Baki asked suddenly, looking closer at the girl. She smirked.

"I guess you Sand ninja aren't all completely stupid. I'm Akuseiko – the better half," she finished, laughing. "It's sooo nice to stretch my legs - !" She did several clearly exaggerated stretching exercises before settling down on the floor in front of their cell on her stomach, looking like a girl at a sleepover as she leaned her head on one palm and moved her legs back and forth without a care in the world.

"Ahh… freedom is such a fickle thing! I thought once we were away from their clutches that I would get to spend more time on the outside, you see. But she wasn't having any of that… I've been trapped, away from everybody, for way too long…she even affiliated herself to a village without my permission! Can you believe that?"

Kankurou, Baki, and Temari just stared.

"Ugh, the nerve! And then she doesn't even bother to tell them about little old me," she said, wiping away a mock tear. "Oh dear, what will they say when they – damn it!" Akuseiko clutched at her head and curled into the fetal position without warning, startling the occupants of the cage. She whimpered and snarled, rolling over and over on the ground before hitting her head against one of the metal walls of the room. For a moment she was still, breathing heavily, and then she very slowly stood up. Her breath came in jagged pants, and she was using the wall she had collided with as support to stand.

When she turned back to them, her eye was back to normal – guarded lavender.

"I am sorry… if she caused any trouble for you," said Hinata quietly. She bowed, refusing to meet their eyes.

"Do you remember anything she does?" asked Temari suddenly. Hinata looked at her then, and it was as though her gaze pierced the blonde straight through. A long moment passed.

"No."

Not saying anything else, she proceeded to pick the various locks on their cage. Both parties continued to be silent, as if they suspected the other of knowing more than they ought.

* * *

The prison that held the Konoha ninja team was not too far from their own. However, it was a much bigger room with much more sophisticated equipment, each of them had a separate cage as well as a separate operating table, and they looked sufficiently more beat up than their Suna counterparts. Baki silently supposed that whoever was behind the attack was primarily after the Konoha team or possibly had important ties to Sungakure. Or both.

"Is this where you were being held?" Temari asked Hinata as she walked to the nearest cage. She shook her head. The dark-haired Uchiha boy was sitting in it, nursing a black eye and what looked like a dislocated shoulder. He glared at the Suna girl fiercely. She only rolled her eyes as she started to pick the padlock on his door.

"I grew up with Gaara, honey, you're going to have to do a little better than that." His glare settled into more of a pout and she smirked. Kankurou, being the hormonal teenager that he was, went to Anko's cage and Baki, sighing, went to undo the locks of Kakashi's, which looked as though they were the most complex. It also seemed as though he had taken the worst beating of all the Konoha ninja; he was barely conscious. That was one of the downsides to having a rep, especially one as renowned as Kakashi's own. People _knew_ you.

Hinata stood in front of Naruto's cage. He was laying on the ground, not moving and not making a sound. Drool dribbled out of his open mouth and onto the floor. There was no physical damage to his body, but to Hinata, this seemed far worse. She rushed through all of the locks on his prison and dashed inside. Even though the other three had started earlier, she was the first one to release her target. She caught his body before he could fall and laid it down gently on the cell floor. Thankfully, his eye still seemed lucid. In fact, they seemed to convey a sense of utter rage.

"Naruto-san, blink if you can hear me and understand what I'm saying."

He blinked. She smiled her smile, and thought she might've imagined the slight lessening of the anger in his eyes.

"Did they only just drug you? Blink once for yes and twice for no."

He blinked twice.

"Several hours ago?"

He blinked once.

"Do you think it will wear off soon?"

He blinked once again.

"Good. In the meantime… somebody will have to carry you." Hinata momentarily pulled her gaze away from Naruto as she heard a commotion coming from another cell.

"OUCH! What the hell was that for?!"

"Oh, sorry kid. Reflex action. Don't ever try waking me up again, got it?"

Kankurou scowled at Anko, cradling the left side of his jaw gingerly. She was limping on one leg slightly and her eye was swollen and bruised, but she made her way over to Naruto's cell nonetheless.

"Hey, kiddos," she said with a bright grin. "How the hell'd you get out, Hinata-chan?"

"Stupid guard," she said with a shrug. She did not elaborate further. "Should I look at your ankle?"

"I don't know what you can do for it, but sure."

Anko surveyed Naruto's cell while Hinata bent down to inspect the damage.

"A little too young to be drooling quite yet, aren't you?" She smirked at the furious glare in his eyes. "Should we get you some adult diapers too?" Sasuke snickered as he walked closer to their cell. "Shut up, Uchiha. The only reason he got such a big dose was because he needed that much to keep him down. How much did they give you?"

Naruto had to give Anko credit. She didn't give anyone breaks, not even the precious Uchiha brat. Hinata was the exception; however, neither he nor Sasuke seemed to mind that much.

"Ahh – Hinata, is that a healing jutsu?" Anko looked at her charge in surprise as she felt the familiar warmth flood her ankle. The girl blinked up at her, not saying a word, and Anko turned away with a sigh. Every time she thought she'd gone a little deeper…

Kakashi was the last to stumble over to Naruto's cell; and, after he had had his own laugh at Naruto's expense, he picked the boy up and put him on his back.

"Careful, it drools."

"Leave the kid alone, Anko. Hinata, do you have enough chakra for another healing jutsu?" The girl nodded. "Good. Would you take a look at my shoulder?"

The next five minutes were spent in a flurry of hushed activity. Hinata healed as much as he could without overtaxing herself while Anko and Kakashi administered basic first aid to themselves and their students. The Suna team stood off to the side quietly, not really helping or hindering. Hinata took the opportunity to reveal her fears to her teachers.

"They are hiding something from us," said Hinata, not looking up from the wound she was bandaging on Sasuke's arm. "They are planning something."

"What makes you say that?" Sasuke asked, leaning back against the bars of Naruto's cell with a grimace. His body hurt all over, and thanks to Temari, so did his pride.

"…body language when I or somebody else said something…"

"Now you're hiding something," said Kakashi gently. "Can't have that."

"Explain later," said Anko, interrupting their conversation as she saw Temari, Baki, and Kankurou walk closer.

"Do any of you have ideas for getting out of this mess?" Anko said brusquely, turning to face the Suna ninja. None of them spoke up. "Do you have any idea who might be behind this?"

"Aren't they Kusa shinobi? I saw it on some of their clothes," said Temari, as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Anko smiled at her coldly.

"I'm guessing your brothers are the brains in the family?" The girl spluttered angrily as Kankurou snickered. "If you were really paying attention, then you'd have realized that the Kusa thugs were only hired mercenaries. They may wear the Kusa symbol, but they're not working for Kusagakure, and they're not the masterminds. Somebody put them up to it, and that somebody is the person or organization who is running this facility."

Temari looked away with a deep scowl on her face. "Yeah, whatever."

"Anything else to add? Anything at all?" Anko sighed. "Well, you three are a waste of time! Where's Gaara, maybe he can be of use."

* * *

"Let me assure you, Gaara-san, your team is not in any more discomfort than absolutely necessary."

The oily-mannered man – boy, really – was smiling in what he must have thought was a disarmed and slightly pitiful manner. Gaara's face did not change expression once as they spoke.

"I couldn't care less."

"…okay… I was speaking with Orochimaru-sama, and the invasion should go along as planned. You will be briefed further as soon as we concoct a reasonable escape plan for –"

"I don't care. I don't care for anything but myself, and the chance to prove my existence. As long as that is provided to me, you need not worry about your life, Kabuto."

"…thank you, Gaara-san. I think."

* * *

The captured shinobi had split up to investigate two possible ways of escape. Anko had decided that they should keep to their original teams in light of the information that Hinata had told them, though she used the pretense of knowing each other's abilities better. Team Alpha proceeded down the corridor to their right while Team Sand had gone left. Now they had a problem though – a huge door, which looked to be made out of titanium or perhaps something even more thick and durable, was blocking their way. It could only be legally bypassed by typing in the correct code on a small, black keypad which they did not have, and all of their explosives have been confiscated after their capture.

"Fan-flipping-tastic," Naruto muttered to himself. Luckily – or perhaps unluckily – Naruto's sedatives had worn off in a matter of minutes. Apparently, they'd been pumping him full of the stuff since they'd realized that the dosages they'd used on the others had the effect of numbing his extremities for a few minutes – at best. Anko smacked him across the head.

"Keep a chipper attitude, maggot," she growled, not at all sounding chipper herself. "If we get frustrated, it will only be harder to get out of here."

"How can I not be frustrated at this? If we don't get through this door, we'll likely be tortured and then killed! You want me to be _chipper _about that?!"

"I _want _for you to stop being such a negative influence!"

"Guys…"

"_Shut up, Kakashi!_" Anko and Naruto said as one.

"Negative influence? Negative influence?! Miss Suffering-Builds-Character, Miss Slave-Driver, Miss Blood-Is-So-Delicious-That-I-Lick-It-Off-My-Kunai is talking to Uzumaki Naruto about being a negative influence?!"

"You're damn right I am!"

"Guys!_"_

"_Shut up, Kakashi!_"

"Hinata's already in the ventilation ducts," said Sasuke loudly, hoping to forestall any more arguments. Anko and Naruto were the combined negative influence, in his opinion. A team with just him, Hinata, and Kakashi wouldn't be so bad!

"Sh – what?" Anko looked up near the ceiling, where one of the vents had been pried upon. If she strained her ears, she could hear the slight rustling of Hinata's clothes against the side of the duct. "Oh. Thank you, Sasuke, for not being a negative influence. Unlike somebody else I know…"

"Do _not _respond Naruto," Kakashi said in a sharp tone. "That will only encourage her. And did either of you consider lowering your voices while we were attempting to sneak through and escape from this facility? I thought as much," he continued ruthlessly as they looked shamefaced. "Both of you need to grow up and get your act together, because we do not have the resources to put up a decent fight at this point. If we are discovered, we will likely die or be recaptured. So _you _shut up. Got it?"

Sasuke was staring. Kakashi had never asserted authority before, not even on a mission. Hell, he barely showed up for half the D-ranks they went on. Even when they were training, he usually let Anko take the lead.

"From now on, you will do exactly as I say, and do it exactly when I tell you. Is that clear?"

Anko and Naruto nodded, not looking at each other.

"Good. Sasuke, you go and help Hinata. You're the only other one thin enough to fit through those ducts."

"Gotta maintain that girlish figure, Uchiha," Naruto sang quietly as Sasuke walked past him. Sasuke ignored him with more grace than he thought he had, but Kakashi had no such reservations and hit him across the head.

"Did I mention you were to do this with as little talking as possible?"

* * *

It had taken only a few minutes for Hinata to find a vent on the other side of the door and slip through it. That was the easy part. The hard part was figuring out how to open the door.

From the other side, it seemed as though a mere keycard from any employee was needed to get inside. She'd seen this design before, unfortunately. It was to lure in those who thought it easy to break into the laboratory. They got into the very core of it all, triumphant in their conquering of the feeble security, and then would attempt to go back they way they came, only to find themselves without knowledge of the password. And usually, the password was different for each successive door.

Yes, she knew it so well. Too well! How many times had she seen hapless ninja wannabes turn into experimental fodder for the mere amusement of a deranged psychopath? How many times had she been kept awake by the sounds of his playtime? How many times had she dreamed of bypassing the doors so similar to these – eighteen child-sized hands high, ten child-sized hands across, five child-sized hands thick, if she remembered correctly and of course she did – that kept her a prisoner for so long?

"Familiar, aren't they?"

Hinata whirled around, clutching a hand to her chest. As her brain slowly registered what she was seeing, her feet led her backwards almost of their own accord. He smiled at her – at her utter fear of him – and pushed his glasses further up his nose. They glinted in the limited light of the underground fortress.

"Hello, Hinata. How we've missed you back home!" said Yakushi Kabuto, smiling at her in a way that was so disturbingly sincere that she nearly vomited on the spot. Yes, he had clearly missed her. But not in a way that a sane person ever wanted to be missed. "How have you been holding up?"

Several wheezing, rasping noises of panic escaped her lips. His kind smile widened. "Well, then? Good to hear! However, we have been wondering when you would come home to us again… we've all rather missed you! And Akuseiko too, of course…"

"P…"

"Hm?"

"P…p…"

"Sorry, I can't quite hear you."

"P-please…" said Hinata in a choked, frightened voice. "Please… _leave me __**alone!**_"

The last part she yelled at the top of her voice, simultaneously wanting to startle him into a bad move and let her team know that she was in deep trouble. After all, it had to mean something when she said anything above a relatively quiet speaking tone. Or so she hoped.

Sasuke, from his perch in the vent, had seen everything that transpired, including the strange conversation between Hinata and this seemingly harmless, barely post-adolescent man. She knew him, and was deathly afraid of him. But what now could she do? Even though Hinata was powerful for a genin, Sasuke didn't think she could match this man. He had a subtle, underlying aura of power. It was hard to detect on a merely superficial level – this 'Kabuto' put up an excellent front – but his chakra control was near flawless as he reached his arm out to disable Hinata in some way.

Hinata… what she was doing? She was clearly outclassed and she definitely knew it. What was she playing at? What could he do – observe as she got hurt? That wouldn't do. But even both of them together, using Kakashi's beloved teamwork, probably couldn't take him down. And then a strange thought struck Sasuke, as all of these thoughts flew around in his head in less than a few seconds.

What would Naruto do?

Naruto wouldn't be waiting in this vent, watching his teammate fight for her life. He'd be down there already, hoping to divert Kabuto's attention and engage him completely while Hinata recovered herself. He wouldn't be up here _wondering._

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

* * *

Naruto, Kakashi, and Anko stood in silence. Having been properly subdued, co-teacher and student were not even fidgeting; neither of them wanted to raise Kakashi's ire again. He had also made them both realize a valid point: that they while they were trapped in a closed facility, they shouldn't make noise and attract the attention of the enemy. It was a fundamental ninja principle at which both of them had utterly failed.

So even when they heard Hinata yelling, neither made a sound. They only looked to Kakashi in hopes of some instruction. Meanwhile they heard the noises of a battle ensue, closely followed by the sound of Sasuke completing his signature clan jutsu, the Great Fireball technique.

"I'm… lost," Kakashi admitted, very quietly. "There's no way to get through that door that I can figure, and Naruto's not small enough to go through the vent."

"I'm not," admitted the blonde boy. "But I can make someone who can be." He crossed his fingers in seal with which his teachers had become intimately familiar. "Kage bushin no jutsu!"

One clone appeared, unlike the usual masses that accompanied Naruto's completion of the A-rank jutsu. "Yo," said the clone, waving.

"Transform into something small and slip through that vent," Naruto ordered the clone. "Sasuke and Hinata are fighting somebody over there!"

"Yessir!" With a quiet poof of smoke, the clone disappeared and was replaced by a small bird which flew into the vent and disappeared.

"Naruto," asked Kakashi carefully, "Can your clones do their own jutsu?"

"Yeah, sure," said Naruto with a shrug. "Can't everybody's?"

Kakashi refrained from telling him that no, everybody's shadow clones could not do their own jutsu. A skill like that required one of two things: very, very, _very _fine chakra control, which he knew that Naruto did not have, or … unfortunately, he was still working out what the other thing was, because usually a skill like that was impossible without the aforementioned very, very, _very _fine chakra control.

"Hmm… and you know that the memories of a kage bushin are transmitted to the user once the bushin is dispelled, correct?"

"Right."

"_Bushin no jutsu!" _ They heard echo through the ventilation ducts back toward them.

"I thought you couldn't do bushin!" Anko accused him in a soft, angry hiss, still being careful not to raise her voice.

"I can't," he said. "But the kage bushin has the correct amount of chakra – like a normal human does, not like me – and so they're able to do more jutsu that need skill as opposed to power," Naruto explained easily. Kakashi and Anko were looking at him like they'd never seen him before. Was he really so knowledgeable on how such things worked? That skill seemed reminiscent of the Yondaime. The skill of breaking things down into small, easier to understand pieces and then fitting them back together in a way that more efficient than the original.

"Good work," said Kakashi, hiding his surprise and impressed air to keep Naruto's ego from inflating.

"My shadow clone was just dispelled," he said with a frown. "That means the clones he made will also disappear."

"So what's happening?" asked Anko urgently, as Naruto summoned more clones and sent them through the vent.

"Sasuke and Hinata are fighting one man. He's several inches shorter than Kakashi, has grey hair tied back in a small ponytail, is wearing round glasses and a purple and white outfit," Naruto reported dutifully. "It looks like he's using some technique called the Chakra Scalpel to try and disable them… Sasuke's left wrist is useless but Hinata seems relatively undamaged. And…"

He paused for a moment, and his teachers suspected that more clones were being dispelled.

"I think Hinata knows this man. He's called her by name and speaks to her like they know each other." He gritted his teeth angrily. "She's really afraid of him. Really, really badly afraid."

Naruto summoned more clones and sent them through the vent again, and was growing visibly agitated by the moment. "He's good," he admitted grudgingly. "I don't think they're doing so well."

"Well, shit," Anko snarled. "What the hell are we supposed to do?!"

* * *

In Sasuke's expert opinion, they were losing the battle. And at this rate, they'd lose the war as well. He didn't know what the man was fully capable of, and Hinata froze up for a few seconds every time the man alluded to some previous occasion. A few seconds was enough to kill you or a teammate in a fight between ninja, and Sasuke's wrist had already been rendered useless by use of the man's chakra scalpel. They weren't far from being beaten.

Then Naruto had appeared.

Not technically Naruto, he supposed. But it was a kage bushin, and, as Sasuke had been finding out more and more, Naruto's kage bushin were very useful. For instance, they now provided a distraction for him and Hinata to attack, with no fear of putting Naruto in danger because it wasn't actually Naruto. In this particular situation, it couldn't be Naruto because he couldn't fit through the vents, but a few days before the mission, Naruto had given them a little hint. He started to make all of his shadow clones with a very minute burn hole on the right pocket of their jackets. This wouldn't be so telling usually, especially given his love of explosions, but the fabric of his clothes, he had explained, was resistant to that sort of damage. So it was impossible for his real jacket to have a hole like that. But only the three of them knew. It made for a useful distinction.

Sasuke's moment of thinking had cost Hinata. With a suppressed cry of pain, she leapt away from Kabuto and clutched her elbow, stumbling backward to lean against the door.

"It seems that despite your brief stint in Konoha, your skills are still as I remember," said Kabuto with a sympathetic smile. "You didn't even graze me! Really, it would be better for everybody if you just came with us. You're just useless for any other thing, my dear…"

"I wasn't trying to hurt you," she said, stumbling over her words and not looking directly into his eyes. She held up a small plastic card and waved it against the sensor. "I just wanted to get this keycard!"

The door opened with a loud hiss, and within a second Kakashi, Anko and Naruto had passed through the door. They stood in front of the injured Sasuke and Hinata. The fact that they weren't all that injured spoke to the way Kabuto had been toying with them.

"I think I will take my leave," he said politely, inclining his head as he backed up very quickly. Kakashi stepped forward, an ugly look in his eye.

"Another lackey of Orochimaru," he growled, balling his hand into a fist. Anko was silent – not because of Kakashi's rebuke, but because Kabuto was associated with Orochimaru. She only observed, trying to memorize as much about the man as she could. In the corner of her eye, she saw Hinata press closer to the wall when Kabuto slid his gaze to her.

"It is such a shame I can't take you with me now, but I'm sure we'll see each other again very soon, Hinata-chan," said Kabuto, smile finally morphing into a malicious smirk as he faded with the shadows. While they all shared a moment of silence, Anko stepped to the side and put a hand on Hinata's shoulder. She was still frozen in place, staring at the spot that Kabuto had occupied not a few seconds ago. At Anko's touch she flinched and closed her eyes, as if in pain.

"Time to go," said Kakashi. When all eyes turned to her, Hinata's vision went dark and she collapsed on the floor.

So it was Sasuke who did the dirty work. Stashing the keycard between his teeth, he scrambled through vents and opened the successive doors until they reached a staircase that presumably led out. Ten minutes later they had reached the outside of the complex. The outside was completely deserted. There weren't even one or two guards at the gate, and the team began to have the feeling that they'd been had – by who, they were not yet sure.

"That was a colossally annoying waste of my life," said Sasuke, shoving his hands in his pockets as he surveyed the place in which he'd been tortured and held captive for a week. "Are we going in to find the Suna team?"

"No," Anko said, right as Kakashi said "Yes."

"I don't leave people behind, Anko. You know that. Not even people who aren't from Konoha. If they're allies, we need to help them. Not to mention that three of them are the children of the Kazekage."

"Fuck them, Kakashi," she said, much more calmly than she usually would have. His warning and Hinata's reunion with Kabuto were still fresh in her mind, distracting her. "Do you think they would've gone back in to get us out? And if Hinata's hunch is correct, then – "

"There you are!"

Temari, Baki, and Kankurou emerged from the surrounding brush, maybe twenty feet away. All of them seemed calm and even – slightly cheerful? But it was forced, Anko supposed. Kankurou's well-meaning grin-smirk was too strained to be anything but fake.

"We've been waiting out here for a while now!" said Temari, with a positive edge to her voice. Team Alpha was looking at her like she had grown another head.

"…sorry to keep you…?" said Naruto slowly. He didn't understand their attitude.

"Hey man, it's not problem," said Kankurou with more camaraderie than they knew him to possess. "Is Hinata alright?"

"Yeah, she just fainted from chakra exhaustion," Kakashi said, his eye signaling a smile.

"That's too bad."

"So have you pinpointed our position yet?" asked Kakashi, still smiling under his mask. Baki nodded.

"We're in northern Waterfall country, very close to Tsuchi no Kuni."

Anko swore. "How close is close?" She exchanged a glance with Kakashi. Tsuchi meant Iwa, and Iwa hated Konoha.

"About a mile, and then there's some contested ground. Maybe ten miles later, the generally accepted Tsuchi border starts."

"It's too late to start to either Suna or Konoha today," said Temari. "Why don't we make camp and plan our next move?"

* * *

**Vocab!  
**_Akuseiko_ – Akusei, malignant (as a tumor); ko, child. Pleasant, isn't it?

_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu_ - Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu.

**Lil Disclaimer:** About Hinata's 'other half', Akuseiko – I just want to say that despite a similar situation in another story, namely _The Genius Losers of Konoha_ by Stigma, I've had this planned for a while. So please don't say I copied; our stories are vastly different in so many ways. Also, you should totally check out that story, because it's fantastic.


	7. what she sees

To **anotamous** – You bring up a good point. I need to showcase Sasuke more. He really isn't that weak, I just like his other teammates more. Hehe. In my defense, the two main characters are Naruto and Hinata. Also, at this point, Sasuke is largely the same character that he was in the manga. The only thing we don't know about Sasuke right now is how his fighting is in relation to his teammates. Which I guess is my fault… well damn!

Anyway, for anyone who's interested, I've made some fanart for this story on my dA account. To get to that account, you can go to my homepage link on this site. Or just copy and paste the address: http : / / ferousha-san(dot)deviantart(dot)com/art/Strange-Kismet-Team-Alpha-95426618.

Enjoy.

* * *

**Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Seven: What She Sees_

* * *

Sakura was shopping.

Not that this was an unusual occurrence for a girl who had just become a teenager a few weeks previous, but this time was special. Now she was shopping for proper ninja attire – something that wasn't 'please come and kill me' red - and for a new set of weaponry.

Since Team 8's match with Team Alpha, Sakura had been less than an asset to her team. She was faulty, nervous, prone to second-guessing herself, and even stuttered a few times. When Kurenai asked her a question, she checked and re-checked the answer in her head several times before she would allow herself to answer, and even then she answered in a timid voice. She couldn't gauge Shino's reaction too well – he was very hard to read, even if she was paying very close attention – but Kiba seemed to be really upset by her attitude. He said that he found her annoyingly shy, and that he wished she would just grow a backbone. He went on to stay that one defeat was nothing, and that if she didn't want to be beaten again, that she should shape up.

This had caused an even greater relapse, and Kurenai had had to pull her aside for a talk.

"_Kiba said some very harsh things… but they were also very true."_

"_So… I am annoying and weak to you, too, sensei?"_

"_No, Sakura. I think you are a smart girl, with the potential to be a deadly ninja. But you have always let other people decide what to do for you. At first, it was your wish for Sasuke's attention that made you a poor ninja. And now it your reaction to one lost fight that makes you a poor ninja. If this is the way you will act every time you lose a mission or a battle, or if you don't get your way, then I will have to recommend that you stop being a ninja right now."_

"…_se-sensei…"_

"_But I need a full team, and I think you would be a fine addition. Show me that you can bounce back and be resilient. I know that you have it in you – now just go and find it."_

"Sakura, I found some shirts over here I think you should look at," said Kurenai, pointing to a rack not too far from where they were standing.

"_But – I need help!"_

"_I will be there to help you."_

"Thank you, Kurenai-sensei."

* * *

"Yakushi Kabuto…" murmured Anko quietly as they sat around the campfire. Hinata, still unconscious, was lying within the protective circle made by her teachers and fellow students, who all kept a close watch over her. Sasuke and even Naruto had been strangely quiet, both dwelling on the events of the past day. Anko continued to muse. "Kabuto… that name is so familiar to me…"

"Mm…" said Kakashi, clearly distracted. He was turning over all the information they had acquired in the past week in the hopes of piecing some things together. So Hinata had been marked with a seal, much like Anko's. But she would have had to be eleven or younger when she got the seal, and though she was a very competent kunoichi, there was no way she should have survived being given the Curse Seal at such a young age. It was impossible. So the process had obviously been altered – one more sick experimental twist to attribute to Orochimaru. One: how did she survive? Two: how did she escape from Orochimaru? Three: what was the effect of the Curse Seal on Hinata? It seemed to go even further than just a cruel disposition. She was like a completely different person when it had been activated.

"Kabuto!" said Anko suddenly, sitting straight up in her seat. "Yakushi Kabuto, he's a medic at Konoha General!"

"What?" Kakashi said blankly, barely registering what she had just revealed. "He is?"

"Yes! He was the medic assigned to assess Hinata's condition when she was brought to Konoha," said Anko, deep in thought. "Didn't you read over her report? Hokage-sama had a medic look over her body for signs of damage… that's why nobody knew about the seal! Of course he wouldn't be stupid enough to give that away, and Hinata hid it under her clothes, so we had no idea it was there until a week ago!"

"But why didn't she recognize Kabuto when he gave her a checkup?"

"_Didn't you read her report? _She was unconscious for a week after Kurenai brought her in." Anko glared at him. "Did you read the reports of any of your students?"

"Uh –"

"Forget it, just forget it!" Anko stood up and began to pace restlessly around their designated half of the camp.

The two teams had quickly disintegrated into distinct factions, much like they had when camping together previously, and there was no middle ground. Team Alpha stayed with each other, and Team Sand formed a tight line in front of the Konoha ninja. They didn't move much, or talk at all after their initial conversation. There was uncomfortable tension between all present, a kind of tension that had been absent before. Previously, it simply existed because the teams were not familiar with the other, but now it originated from the fact that neither side trusted the other. Temari, Baki, and Kankurou suspected them of knowing more than they ought, and Kakashi, Anko, Naruto, and Sasuke suspected them of plotting against Konoha, a suspicion that was supported by Gaara's mysterious absence.

"_You have no idea at all where he is?"_

_Temari shook her head and bit her lip, clearly feeling guilty. "No. We couldn't find him in the fortress."_

"_So you just… gave up?" Anko was incredulous. Not because they struck her as a lovey-dovey family, but because they most likely didn't want to give up a weapon like Gaara. _

"_No! We just know that Gaara can take care of himself – as I'm sure you've all figured out_," _Temari replied firmly. _

Anko was firmly of the opinion that Gaara was conspiring with the enemy somewhere. The conscious members of her team agreed.

* * *

Gaara was not conspiring with the enemy. Gaara could not conspire with the enemy, as he was rather tied up with his mother.

**JUST A LITTLE TASTE, MY SON. LET ME TASTE THE OUTSIDE FOR A WHILE.**

The redhead gritted his teeth against the waves of pain that Mother was sending to him, hoping to stop her from taking over again. She just didn't understand that he needed to prove his existence before he would let her destroy his body to create a new form and wreak havoc on Sungakure!

Parents.

He felt a lone chakra signature part from the larger group of shinobi gathered around the camp. Gaara had stayed within a good distance of the two teams, choosing not to reveal himself. After all, he didn't want to go and kill Kankurou or something and make the Konoha ninja suspicious of him. Then he would have to kill all of them, and that would just be a big mess with the Kazekage sending more assassins after him. And as inconsequential as those assassins were, they were also really annoying. Sometimes, the blood even got on his sash! It was a white sash – did people not realize how hard it was to get bloodstains out of white fabric?

The ninja who had parted from the camp had two chakras, which was why Gaara could feel his leaving the campfire so easily. It was Uzumaki Naruto.

Gaara decided he was bored. It was time to make a new friend.

* * *

Out of all the people to be sent out to gather wood, why did he, Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Team Alpha, prankster extraordinaire, kick-ass ninja who was superior to Sasuke in every way, have to do it?

"_Sasuke has to stay here and…help me… do something…"_

"_Wow, Kakashi, good one," Anko said, rolling her eyes. "Look, kid, we're sending you out because you got the short straw. Deal with it!"_

He knew the real reason. Naruto was man enough to admit that Sasuke was better than him at several things. But one thing he knew he could always trump that bastard at was surviving. Oh, Sasuke was a good fighter. He always got top marks in taijutsu and ninjutsu, the two most offensive elements of ninja training. He couldn't be beat by anyone in their class, and Naruto had yet to actually best him in a fair fight himself.

But Sasuke couldn't _survive. _Not like he could. Sasuke had never rummaged through garbage cans to keep from starving, or had to manage a budget when all the vendors overcharged him for lackluster goods, or been thrown out of the orphanage. Hell, he'd lived on the streets for two years before Sarutobi realized he'd been 'let go'. The old man got complacent with the orphanage's caretaker, and had forgotten to visit Naruto regularly. The end result was a five-year-old orphan begging for food, getting beaten, and the like.

He didn't blame the old man, as good as that sounded sometimes. That would've been petty. Did Sarutobi beat him, or starve him, or call him nasty names? No. And he didn't hate the people who did all those things either. He couldn't, if he wanted to become Hokage. Naruto had simply accepted from a young age that people didn't understand his situation with the Kyuubi, were afraid of him because of it, and then used that fear as fuel for hatred.

Yeah, he'd been a bit precocious for five years, but having such an intelligent being like the Kyuubi no Kitsune living inside one's body did marvels to one's thought processes.

These thoughts, as they always did, led him to thoughts of the other jinchuuriki. How many were there? Where did they live? What did they think of those that oppressed, ridiculed, and hated them? What would happen if he ever met one of them?

He used to imagine, when he was much younger, that he would run away from the village and find the others, and have a real family. A group of people that understood him completely. It sounded like heaven to a young boy who had been shunned at every twist and turn.

That'd fallen together nicely, he thought, not without cynicism. The first thing Gaara had done upon meeting him was glare. _Thanks, bro!_ _Love you too!_

Why was Gaara the way he was? A lot of it could be attributed to how people had treated him. Naruto darkly recalled the times when he had considered revenge. Those nights were the worst, because in spite of the good intentions of the bijuu residing in his stomach, he still enjoyed bloodshed, especially that of his enemies. And now that he was inside Naruto's body, Naruto's enemies became his enemies. But Gaara had family – Gaara had a father! That couldn't be the only thing.

Then did it have something to do with his seal?

Naruto knew from the Kyuubi that the seal the Yondaime had trapped him with was superb, absolutely genius. The kitsune had begrudgingly admitted that means of escape was entirely impossible. Means of escape for both of them.

_WE ARE TRAPPED TOGETHER, YOU AND I, _Kyuubi had said once. _ALL OF MY POWERS CONFINED TO YOUR PUNY LITTLE BODY, AND YOUR IMAGE TO THE WORLD, FOREVER CHAINED TO MY BEASTLY PROFILE. WHAT A CURSED PAIR WE ARE!_

Cursed pair, indeed.

"Uzumaki."

Naruto turned calmly, not allowing Gaara to see that he'd been startled out of a reverie. "Gaara. We've been wondering where you were."

Gaara observed his face – and his subtle glare – coolly. "Not doing what you thought I was."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You think I was with the enemy. I wasn't." He plotted with no one but his mother. And even then, it was mostly one-sided. All she ever wanted to do was rend, rend, rend, kill, kill, kill. He, on the other hand, needed a little more variety.

"Mmm. Anyway, we'd better get back to camp. I'm sure your team is worried about you."

"No."

"…what?"

"No."

"What do you mean, no? Why the hell not?"

"Uzumaki Naruto, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune," Gaara intoned, his husky voice never changing quality. "I want to know something."

"…fire away."

"What do you feel for the ones called 'Sasuke' and 'Hinata'?"

Naruto stared.

"I have seen the strange feelings that you associate with those two," he continued, not waiting for Naruto to answer. "Feelings that indicate that you care for them. Expressions that convey concern for their welfare. Helping them out when they are fighting. Comments that reveal brotherly affection or friendship. What do they mean to you?"

It took Naruto a moment to process Gaara's observations in full. "Um, you seem a pretty smart guy, Gaara," he said slowly, hoping to avoid a fight. "Did it ever occur to you that the things you saw were just what was actually there? You know, that maybe I… that maybe I do consider Sasuke and Hinata my friends?"

"You are confusing, Uzumaki Naruto."

"…I think we're operating on a different wavelength, Gaara no Sabaku…" The blonde wondered briefly why there was calling each other by their full names before shaking it off. "What do you mean, 'why'? Is it really so hard to believe that I could have friends? Even if they are a very, very small number?"

"Yes," Gaara replied bluntly. "A jinchuuriki should live only for himself. There is no other purpose for him to be alive than to fulfill his own needs." He lifted a hand to his hair and pulled it away from his forehead, revealing the symbol that had been tattooed there. "Love. I am a demon who loves only himself and lives only for himself. You would do well to follow my example."

"…what kind of life have you had, Gaara?" Naruto asked him. The redhead frowned when he heard the empathy in Naruto's voice. Empathy was close to sympathy, and sympathy was pity. He didn't want anyone's pity.

"Tell me about it."

"You want me to talk to you about my life." It wasn't so much a question as it was a disbelieving statement. Naruto only nodded, and sat down on a fallen tree trunk that was still in relatively good shape to sit on. Then he leaned forward and propped his head up on one hand.

"I'm waiting."

* * *

"We have a serious problem," Anko said, mostly to herself since Kakashi couldn't be stirred from his own musings. "If Kabuto was Orochimaru's inside man, how many other spies could we have lurking in Konoha? Certainly just one wouldn't be enough for _him_. And what about – " Hmm. Maybe Kakashi was the smarter to ruminate silently. If indeed the Sunagakure shinobi were guilty of some misdeeds against her village, then they wouldn't enjoy her next train of thought.

What about Konoha's allies? Had Orochimaru infiltrated them? It wouldn't be so hard. Out of the Godaikoku – Hi, Mizu, Rai, Kaze, and Tsuchi – Konoha was only allied with one major hidden village – Sunagakure. All the others were smaller, less-militarily influenced nations better suited to trade. The alliances with them had been forged as a way to help the Konoha economy, not boost its soldierly capabilities. They would be relatively easy to infiltrate, though they wouldn't have much information on the ninja front. If, however, Sungakure had fallen into the clutches of Konoha's worst enemy, then they were truly up shit creek without a paddle. Not only would Suna know much more about the capabilities of her village, but that would put every single of the most powerful shinobi villages against them – with the exception of Kirigakure, which would likely stay neutral, as it always did. Those odds were not promising. Sarutobi's foreign policy really needed some work.

Anko turned to observe Temari, Baki, and Kankurou out of the corner of her eye. She held back a snort of disdain. All of them were very obviously attempting to act natural and observe her team at the same time. They weren't having much luck. This was why Suna was really falling behind on the forging of exceptional ninja. None of them were trained to act. They only had to know how to kill. That skill was only a small fraction of being a ninja, in reality. The entire job encompassed so much more. It was a shame, really, wasting talents like Temari and Kankurou clearly had with inferior schooling. Ever since the Yondaime Kazekage had began his reign, Sunagakure was going downhill.

Of course! The Yondaime was at the heart of this. He was a very poor leader, and even there, where rulers were followed without question on pain of death, he was undoubtedly starting to feel some heat – especially after the sixteen years of crap that the people of Suna had gone through. That could make any man desperate, and desperate people were easy prey for Orochimaru. So easy, in fact, that if the Kazekage hadn't been useful to his plan of conquering Konoha, Orochimaru might've ignored him completely. Such a conquest wouldn't be ­_fun_.

Anko halted the flow of bitterness before it could begin again.

Enough of that. She was living in the present. Never looking back at her pain or forward at the prospect of death. Always in the present…

She got the sudden, sharp feeling that she was forgetting something.

Where was Naruto?

* * *

"So that's the story of your life, eh?"

"Yes."

"Not edited in any way? You've told me everything?"

"Yes."

Naruto sat and thought about all Gaara had told him in his excruciatingly detailed monotone. Their lives were sort of like – mirror images. Except the mirror was a fun house mirror, and Gaara's life was distorted so much by the mirror that it sucked even worse than his. And that was not something he said lightly, because his life had really, really sucked.

Where his seal was a work of genius, Gaara's was a work of hasty greed. Where his sealer had chained his soul to the bijuu's for the sake of protecting the village, Gaara's did it for the power that came from having a jinchuuriki. Where his caretakers had truly cared for him, Gaara's had only taken care of and pretended to love Gaara because the Kazekage had ordered it. Naruto supposed that if Sarutobi had ever done to him what Yashamaru had done to Gaara, he would be a much, much different person.

"Not every person is like Yashamaru," said Naruto firmly, looking Gaara straight in the eye. "People will always fear and hate you – that's just something you've got to learn to deal with. But if you gave some people a chance, I'm sure they would accept you."

**DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! HE IS AN ENEMY! HE IS ONLY TRYING TO CAUSE YOU MORE PAIN!**

"I know that underneath all this bullshit, you're different," Naruto continued, watching Gaara carefully. There was a slight tic above his eye and Naruto mentally prepared himself to leap out of the way if necessary. "I am, too. What I show the people that hate me is different from who I really am. But around those I count as precious…I am me. Uzumaki Naruto. _Not _the Kyuubi."

"And who would care for a demon?" asked Gaara. His voice was still toneless. "Who would even have reason to care?'

"I know your father's a jackass, but you have two siblings. Kankurou's a little far gone, I can see it, but it's recoverable ground. You can still make those relationships right again. After that, you move on to friends. You just have to break away from the influence of hate. An influence like that will get you nothing but death and pain."

Naruto stood up and, despite feeling very nervous about turning his back to Gaara at the moment, turned around to head back to camp.

"Think about what I said, Gaara."

* * *

"And where have you been?" was the first thing out of Sasuke's mouth when Naruto arrived. "You were gone for over an hour! And you don't even have any food!"

"What can I say?" said Naruto with a careless shrug. "I'm not a hunter-gatherer. If it's not instant ramen, it's beyond me."

Sasuke huffed angrily. "Do I have to do everything on this team myself?"

"Sorry, your majesty," said Naruto, turning up his nose in a fair impression of the Avenger. Sasuke stood up and clenched his fist, glaring.

"It's alright," said Kakashi, putting a calming hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Is anybody that hungry? Cause if you are, I have some food bars I stole from back there."

Sasuke turned his glare to Kakashi. "And when were you planning on telling us this?"

"So you sent me out there for nothing?" asked Naruto. Now _he _was angry! "What the hell!"

"No," Kakashi answered, still calm. "Didn't you get something when you went out? Anything at all?"

At that very moment, Gaara stepped into the camp. Temari immediately jumped up and nearly ran over to him, asking where he'd been and how he was. Baki and Kankurou watched carefully. Kakashi looked at him, and then back at Naruto, with his one visible eye indicating a smile. Naruto took a step back at Kakashi's knowing look.

"Uh… yeah. I guess I did." He silently added a thanks to Kakashi. If he could impact Gaara's attitude toward life in just one, small, positive way, it would have been worth it. Maybe his sensei wasn't such a useless pervert after all.

"Naruto has no food!" Sasuke hissed, not understanding. "What could he possibly have gained? A couple blisters on his feet?"

"This is a private matter between student and teacher, Uchiha, and as such I expect you to mind your own business."

"Oh, shut up, baka," said Sasuke as an irritable frown formed on his face. "Kakashi…_sensei_… gimme a bar."

The rest of the day was devoted mostly to contemplative quiet, with only the barest murmurings of conversation. Kakashi suggested that they use the same guard sequence as before they had been captured, and eventually the camp fell into sleepy silence.

* * *

"So."

Naruto groaned. "Do we have to talk? Really?"

"Yes."

"What is it, then?"

"What do you think of it all?"

"Eh?"

"About Hinata. What do you think?"

"I think she must've had a pretty shitty time with that jackass Kabuto is what I think."

"Can we trust her?"

"…_what?_"

Sasuke turned to Naruto with a solemn look on his face. "We don't know anything about Hinata. Anything. We only know her name and her fighting capabilities – or at least I thought I knew her fighting capabilities…"

"What are you getting at?"

"I already said it! Can we trust her? What if she's a spy for this Orochimaru or something? Why hasn't she told us about her past?"

"For the same reason Kakashi-sensei and Anko haven't talked about theirs – it's painful. Do you want to tell me your life story?" Naruto had suspected for a long time that Sasuke's awful attitude sprung from something other than pure arrogance. Just he thought, he'd struck a nerve.

"That's different!" said Sasuke hotly, thinking of his own past. "Her mysterious years away from Konoha make her a wild card. We know that Kakashi and Anko have never had questionable loyalty…"

Sasuke trailed off when he realized that inaccuracy of that statement. They really didn't know anything about the experiences of either of their sensei prior to their being a part of Team Alpha. What were their genin teams like? Who were _their _teachers? Did they still keep in contact?

That wasn't completely true. Kakashi, though not explicitly, had referenced the death of his teammates and presumably his sensei during their bell test. But about Anko, they knew nothing, and about Kakashi next to nothing.

"By your standards, we shouldn't trust any ninja of Konoha besides the ones in our graduating class," said Naruto wryly. "Look, Sasuke, all ninja of the same village have to trust each other to a point. If you went around thinking that every other chuunin was a traitor, you'd only make yourself and the people around you nervous and miserable."

"But Hinata's not from Konoha," said Sasuke petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Old Man Hokage let her in, and that's good enough for me," Naruto said in a light tone, suggesting an end to the conversation.

"I wish I could live in a world as simple as yours," Sasuke said to himself quietly.

"Don't we all?"

The genius ninja nearly jumped out of his skin. "A-anko!"

His teacher was looming over him with a cold smile on her face. Hinata was at her side, having finally woken up. She did not look at Sasuke, and he felt his face grow warm with shame. She hadn't – _heard_, had she…?

"It's our shift now," Anko continued, still looking at Sasuke frostily. "Go to bed."

* * *

"Can you believe that little brat ate almost all of Kakashi's food bars?" Anko seethed, not so much looking for reassurance from her young charge as a chance to vent. "I'm gonna throttle him next chance I get! And the look on his face… he knew he was guilty…"

Hinata, who was still feeling rather tired, had deigned to rest her eye most of the remaining evening and had consequently not been able to look Sasuke right in the face. She stifled a yawn before agreeing with her teacher using a soft noise of affirmation.

"You still tired?" Anko asked, softening her tone. Hinata nodded and blinked furiously, attempting to keep herself awake. "Keep resting, if you need to."

"No," Hinata said, more loudly than she had intended. Anko grinned a bit. "No," she repeated, more softly than before. "I've been resting too long."

That, along with the fact that her sleep had been fitful – accompanied by nightmares of her times with Kabuto and his master – made her want to stay up as long as she possibly could before falling into an exhaustive, near-comatose and almost always dreamless state. It was her only way to avoid reliving the horror of those experiences.

The two sat, along with Temari, quietly in the camp for the next hour. The Suna kunoichi – who was apparently feeling masochistic – couldn't help but ask Hinata a question.

"So."

Anko's eyes bore into her like chips of ice. Hinata looked at her without emotion.

"You've already given me a pretty…detailed description of what you thought of us before we were all captured," said Temari, ignoring Anko completely to face Hinata and give her total attention. "Is it still the same?"

Hinata looked honestly surprised at the inquiry. "Mm?"

"Do you still see the same things you did before?"

Hinata cocked her head and closed her eyes. "Hm. …No."

"…well?"

"Yes?"

"What do you see now? What's different?" Temari asked impatiently.

"What's different…hmm…" Hinata kept her eyes closed, and for a few moments Temari and Anko thought that she had drifted off to sleep. Her breath was slow and even, and the weather drifted at a temperature between summer and autumn that was extremely relaxing. It was still quite warm back home in Konoha. Temari sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She opened her mouth to rouse the girl from her slumber only to have Hinata raise one hand to gesture silence.

"I see a boy who can make a friend. I see another who doesn't want to lose anymore family. I see a girl who cares so much for her family that she would go against her duty."

Hinata smiled. It was a real smile, not full and toothy but small and sincere. It lit up her face and made her eye soft and warm.

"I see a choice. And there is nothing more powerful than that."

Stunned silence filled the clearing.

"Our shift is almost over," said Hinata as she rose, presumably to wake her other sensei. "Good night, Temari-san."

Not for the first time, Anko wondered what her student had gone through to make such an obviously kind-hearted girl such a successful ninja.

* * *

Konoha may have had a Will of Fire, but its ninja also had the instinct of animals, Baki reflected grimly. They weren't as easily fooled as had been portrayed by the Kazekage – or was it Orochimaru? No, this group of shinobi had definite intuition. After all that had happened in the Kusa base, they knew something was up, and they weren't going to be tricked in camaraderie again.

Of course, the lacking acting skills of Kankurou, Temari, and himself did not help their case. Having been raised in a village that taught shinobi they weren't human made them unused to the intricacies of human contact. They had no idea how to be 'friends'. Even the civilians were considered cold and aloof by other villages' standards. That was just the way things were, and they way they would always be. He used to think that Gaara, Kankurou, and Temari were the same – perhaps even that they were the epitome of Sunagakure shinobi – cold, ruthless, without human bonds.

It seemed that the children of the Kazekage were contradictory beings. Kankurou was probably the closest to Baki's original estimate. He was a ruthless and effective shinobi, that was true. But he wasn't unnecessarily cruel or vicious like his father was. He truly cared for his sister, and he wanted to care for his brother. But Gaara was so powerful and so devoid of affection that Kankurou's jealousy of his power and resentment of his unfeeling ways – so similar to their father – caused him to hold back any love he felt for his brother.

Temari, though on the surface just as unfriendly as her brother, secretly held a great deal of affection for the precious few close to her – even him, her sensei and former caretaker. The attention that she had treated him with on previous missions and their incarceration in the underground base here told him what Temari herself did not – that she viewed him as an important adult figure in her life, as maybe an uncle or even an actual father. She was closest to Kankurou, and she tried so badly to help Gaara in any way, despite his murderous tendencies. Temari had been trying to act as the mother figure in her brothers' lives for so many years now that she tried to shoulder of all the problems by herself, as a mother would, and refused help.

And then there was Gaara.

Truth be told, Baki had given up on Gaara a long time ago. He thought that the boy would always be a bloodthirsty demon, one who "cared only for himself", as Gaara had proclaimed. Baki had never faltered in that belief until this mission. Until now.

Uzumaki Naruto was a fascinating ninja. What kind of young boy could have words to move a stony heart like Gaara's? What kind of speech, after so many years of assassination attempts and murders, could give Gaara's eyes that tiny bit of uncertainty that Baki had seen just a few hours previous?

"Tee hee!"

Baki gritted his teeth angrily and waited for his shift to be over. If he had to listen to one more of Kakashi's perverted giggles, he would have to kill himself.

* * *

Morning arrived. Team Sand had dropped their pseudo-friendly act, and now only stood in uncomfortable silence.

"So you'll be heading back to Konoha?" asked Baki, looking at Kakashi for the answer. He nodded. His next question made Anko and Naruto pay attention immediately.

"I had a thought while we were on guard duty – does this mission count as completed? I know that we were captured, but I think that, technically, we did complete our guard rounds, right?"

"Actually, since we didn't report back on time, they likely sent a team to investigate what had happened. And the money that would've been used to pay us was probably used to pay them," Baki admitted, looking rueful. "My apologies."

"My dango!" Anko wailed, burying her face in her hands.

"Who care about dango?! How am I going to pay for my ramen?!"

"Do you ever shut up?"

"I dunno, will you ever work up the guts to talk to Anko like you just did to me, ya bastard?"

Hinata sighed as a minor fistfight ensued. "The stress you are causing is aggravating to my injuries," she said, raising her voice higher than normal. Almost at once the two boys separated, but they continued to glare at each other even as Kakashi and Anko stepped between them.

"If the situation does change, we'll send you the money."

"Well, have a nice life!" said Kakashi as Team Sand turned around to take their leave.

Anko watched them leave with a grim certainty than none of her students had seen before. "This could just be me… but I have the feeling it won't be long again when we see those four."

"It's not just you," Sasuke, Hinata, and Naruto assured her as one. The three genin looked at each curiously while Kakashi smiled, laughed a little and shook his head.

"We should get going. We'll want to reach Shinboku City before nightfall."

* * *

"Ma'am… I'm going to have to ask you to hand it over. There's just no other way."

The woman at the bar ignored him completely. She took another swig out of her sake bottle and sighed in contentment. Mohji grimaced.

"Ma'am, really, if you do not give us the money to pay your debt at our casino, we will hire enough assassins to take you down, regardless of who you are!"

She did not turn to face him; instead, she only slid her eyes to the right. The man, Mohji, was attempting to implore her without words now. Everyone in the seedy bar was silent, waiting for her reaction.

"Is that what this is about?" her voice was a cross between a growl and a purr. "You can just charge it to my sensei, alright?"

"And who might your sensei be?" asked Mohji coldly.

"Well, you might've heard of him…you know, Sarutobi? The Sandaime Hokage?"

Five minutes later Mohji, along with his goons that had been hiding throughout the bar, were waving her off with nervous goodbyes, shoving several sake jugs into the arms of her assistant as they went.

"G'bye, boys!" The voluptuous blonde woman laughed uproariously. Her slight, dark-haired companion pouted as she tried to juggle the five or six bottles in her arms.

"Tsunade-sama, one of these days you'll owe money to somebody who's not afraid of just a name."

Tsunade grinned. "Until that day, Shizune… I'm just gonna keep on doing what I'm doing. Now onward – to Shinboku!"

* * *

I wrote a lot of this when I was tired... so tell me about mistakes, yeah?

**Also: **Shinboku - reunion. I may've missed other vocab, so tell me. Um yeah. Tired...


	8. a woman of legendary proportions

**

* * *

Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Eight: A Woman of Legendary Proportions_

_

* * *

_Shinboku was a busy, bustling city, one that had been built up by good, hard-working farmer folk into a thriving metropolis. They prided themselves on being decent people, those who knew right from wrong but could be pretty forgiving at the end of the day if you made a mistake or two.

There was one thing, however, that they could not forgive. The day that Anda Masato had set up his small and very much illegal gambling den near the outskirts of town had been the start of something new and awful. Black Zodiac had morphed from a rundown old farmhouse into a sprawling, successful business venture that had eventually given rise to a neighborhood which was currently making up half of Shinboku's total population. What had started as one sleazy opportunist making his way up in the world had turned into phenomenon which turned into its own district, leading to an all-out culture war between the gangsters, drifters, and yes-men of Zodiac District and the good old fashioned farmers-turned-businessmen of the Mercantile District.

Given the violent influences of Anda and his cronies, the stagnant war between the two sides had eventually turned physical. Both now had gangs representing their interests, gangs making sure that those from the opposing side never came too close to crossing the border.

When would the violence stop, an elderly man mused as he swept his porch. When would the damn Koudoutai learn that it had no place existing here?

"Excuse me…"

He looked up, broken from his train of thought and his task. Before him stood a young, slight girl, likely on the cusp of being a teenager. She was pale and had long dark hair that framed her face. Her clothes were dark, and clearly something a ninja might wear.

All of this slipped his mind. The only thing he could focus on was the eye patch on her face.

"You're one of them! Police! Police!"

* * *

Hinata gritted her teeth, leaping from roof to roof while dodging the projectiles that were currently being hurled at her. "One of them"? What did that even mean? Did they hate ninja here? All she had wanted was to look for a place in which her team could stay the night!

"They're recruiting so young now!" she heard one of the brown-clad policemen yell to the other. "This girl can't be more than thirteen!"

"Just focus on the capture – we can question her more later!"

_Capture_? She nearly bared her teeth in a vicious snarl. No way in hell. Akuseiko echoed her violent feelings in the back of her consciousness and Hinata tried to reel her in before attacking – that could easily turn into a mess. She stopped abruptly and turned on her heel, facing her pursuers.

"Finally!" One laughed triumphantly. "Come quietly, little girl, and we won't have to – arrgh!" Hinata's foot was buried in his face, muffling his scream of pain. She drew nine senbon out of a pocket in her tunic and threw them at the man's companion at a speed he couldn't register. All of them hit dead-on; they would paralyze him until they were removed. Hinata slipped into an ally after relieving the policemen of their weapons and concentrated. The chakra signature of a ninja like Kakashi would be easy to pinpoint in this non-shinobi town.

He was… back the way they had came, close to the northern edge of town. She could just barely feel Anko's presence – her chakra stores were not nearly as large as Kakashi's – on the opposite end of Shinboku, in the newer district. Surprisingly bright on her chakra radar was Naruto. She could see him the clearest of all her team members; his chakra signature was like a beacon to her senses. Even Sasuke registered - albeit lower than Anko – very unusual for a genin. She really was on the perfect team of weirdos.

"Hey."

She didn't turn around to address whomever it was that was speaking. She had found that this helped with the image of helpless little girl, which she had exploited countless times.

"I said, _hey_! Are you paying attention, girl?"

Hinata turned and blinked at him in a doe-like fashion. Behind her was a boy of fourteen years or so with dark eyes and speckling of freckles across his cheeks. His black hair was unkempt, hanging around his face in messy strands. He was rolling his eyes.

"You can drop the act, I saw what you did."

Her posture straightened and she fell back into a defensive stance.

"Whoa, relax baby girl!" He said, holding his hands out in front of him in a peaceful gesture. Hinata did not move.

"Look, I just wanna talk, alright? Why don't you come with me? No jail cells, I promise. Not like they would've done," he said with a sneer, looking past her at their limp bodies.

"If I go with you, they would assume that I was, in truth, working for you – whoever you are - and I would get into more trouble." She crossed her arms over her chest as she challenged his reasoning.

"You're already in trouble with them because you beat those two up. They don't forget shit like that. Ever. You know how many people who are unfortunate enough to have an eyepatch get arrested by those bastards on a monthly basis? A whole helluva lot, that's how many."

Hinata decided to follow him. After all, he was just one kid – what sort of activities could he get up to, anyway?

* * *

Anda Kaizoku, nickname Kai, was turning fifteen in a few weeks. He enjoyed swordfighting and playing cards and had recently discovered the joys and pains of the opposite sex. (Kai hadn't yet made his move on her was because, he claimed, she looked like she "had a lot of other shit going on".)

He was also the nephew to the notorious Anda Masato, who was the reason she had gotten targeted in the first place. Followers of Anda identified themselves by wearing an eye patch. This was apparently to honor Anda, who had lost an eye himself. So as a matter of fact, he could and would get up to all sorts of things at his age from which normal teenagers in Shinboku stayed clear away.

Their headquarters was a lively and dimly-lit casino. People everywhere were calling out numbers, throwing dice, pumping their fists in the air jubilantly or crying out in despair. Some of the eager victims looked like they belonged on the north end of town, with the policemen in brown. Stationed around the main hall were men wearing all dark blue, either suits or kimono. All of them had one eye covered in some way – either the infamous eye patch, a strip of cloth tied around their head at an angle, a darkened monocle, or some other prop. She almost rolled her eyes at the more ridiculous ones – like one man who had cut a bejeweled headdress in half and turned it upside down on his head to hide his eye which was, most likely, in the best of shape.

Kai led her through the throngs of men and women who threw their money on the table haphazardly and pulled down levers with the greatest hope. Several of the dealers and the guards in blue nodded to him or called out a greeting. A couple even asked him about his new girl.

"Uncle's in the back," Kai said, slipping through the crowds with ease to an ornate set of double doors marked with the word _Management_ in curvy script. The two bulky men guarding the door didn't look twice at Kai or his companion as he opened the door. Inside was a large desk, complete with attractive, brunette secretary. The woman looked to be in her thirties, but still drew the occasional sidelong glances of every guard in the room – there were seven here. Next to her desk a young girl around Hinata's age was looking supremely bored – until she caught sight of Kai.

"Zoku-kuuuun!" she squealed, blonde waves bouncing with her movement as she rushed to his side. Green eyes narrowed at Hinata briefly before they locked in Kai's face. He was not amused.

"Kirameki, shove off!" Kai groaned, struggling to untangle himself. "I've got to meet with my uncle, I don't have time for this!"

"No time for meee?" She drew out the last syllable in what she must have thought was a seductive purr. As she was barely hitting puberty, it came out more as a high-pitched whine.

"Shoki-san, is my uncle free at the moment?" Kai's voice sounded like it was desperately hoping he was. The secretary spared him a few moments as she looked up from her paperwork. "I believe he is, Kai-kun. You might want to knock of course, but he has no appointments from the remainder of today." Her face sharpened abruptly as she turned to her daughter. "Kira! Step away from Kai-kun this instant. Please try not to make a fool of yourself in front of Anda-sama's nephew!"

Hinata glanced over at the secretary. The shiny gold nameplate read _Shoki Mayakashi_; the entire desk was extremely neat and organized, as if everything was glued down to the dark wood. Her shirt was unnecessarily low cut, and her skirt unnecessarily high cut; both were too tight. Her clothes were not sensible at all, and Hinata wondered why she ever bothered wearing those things.

But Kakashi had been telling her to look underneath the underneath. For her, anything that hadn't been practical or essential was unnecessary, and she disposed of things accordingly. To do anything else didn't make any sense. As an official shinobi of Konohagakure, though, she had to think differently. It was possible that Shoki dressed the way she did in order to distract the male-dominated company around her to some ultimate end of her own.

Or she just enjoyed the attention. Anko took that idea to extremes. It wasn't so impossible.

"I asked you a question!" yelled Kira, very close to her ear. Hinata made a show of massaging her ear daintily.

"I don't feel like talking to you."

"Well, I never!" The blonde girl looked extremely offended. "Do you know who I am?! Who do you think _you _are?! Why are you wearing an eye thing anyway? Trying to imitate Anda-sama's men? What's under there?!"

Kira's hand swooped in dangerously close. Hinata watched her coldly, as if she were moving in slow motion. Grabbing Kira's wrist, she twisted it until the girl squealed in pain and jumped away, nursing her "injury".

"Don't ever try to touch me again," Hinata said in a low, serious voice. Akuseiko was pushing at her boundaries again – her eyes went dark for a moment as she stared at Kira. It was a nice effect. But then she got past her prison for her a moment –

"_Or I'll cut out your tongue," _Akuseiko hissed as she moved so that only Kira could see and hear her. The other girl whimpered.

Entirely unnecessary, Hinata thought to herself… her-selves. Akuseiko only snorted and retreated into her lair. Kai was staring at her with something like awe as Kira silently shot glances at the two of them.

"You got her to shut up!"

Hinata shrugged as Kai shook his head in disbelief.

"You're really something else, Hinata-san!"

The door in the back of the room eased open and a man stepped out from behind it, haloed by the light coming from the office behind him.

"That's some kind of praise coming from you, nephew," he said, walking forward into the artificial light. Anda Masato must have been a just a bit taller than Kakashi, minus her teacher's scarecrow hair. He was broad-shouldered and well-dressed, the black suit and dark red shirt fitting him to near-perfection. His skin was a light caramel shade, so he was not a native to the region – he likely hailed from the Phoenix Archipelago off the southern coast of Hi no Kuni. A pair of shiny black shoes was gleaming on his feet, and the twinkle of cufflinks caught Hinata's eye. The only thing that seemed disorderly about him was his hair, which resembled Kai's messy locks, and the left side of his face. There was a black satin eye patch over the place where his left eye would be, and three claw-like marks were visible near it, stark white against his light brown skin. He smiled down at Hinata and his teeth were straight and pearly white.

"Hello there, little lady," he said. "What brings you to my humble casino?"

She was going to reply with, _humble isn't a word I would use_, but wisely held her tongue.

"Uncle, she was being chased by two of the Uppers – those are the police from the north side," Kai turned to explain to Hinata. "It was because of her eye."

"Oh? And did you help her out? How chivalrous, nephew."

"I didn't do anything. She took both of them out easily."

Masato's gaze on Hinata became more calculating and shrewd. Suddenly he was much more interested in her. She felt this and backed up, flaring her nostrils slightly.

"Relax, little one," said Masato calmingly. "You sure are observant! I mean you no harm – my self-serving assessment of people has become second nature, I'm afraid."

Hinata did not relax, or move back to her previous position. "What do you want from me?"

_Crash!_

"Sir!" Several of the men in blue burst in from the main hall of the casino, breathing heavily. "Sir, there is a wo –"

A mad cackling interrupted him; from behind the group of eight or so men crowding the Management's doors came a hail of kunai. Hinata noted that all of the shots were non-lethal and sighed.

"What the hell was that?" Anda growled, losing his composure. "One person, and you can't even –"

"WAHOO!"

There was a small explosion of colors, sparks, and smoke, blinding everybody in the small chamber. Coughing in the smoke, Anda waved one hand in front of his face to clear the air and pulled a shiny black gun out of his jacket with the other.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in my casino?" His voice was just a low growl, and now his eyes were cold as ice. And he had changed so quickly, too. Even Akuseiko agreed with her: _caution. Dangerous._

(But since when could Akuseiko talk to her…?)

"I'm looking for a certain person," drawled a deep, foreboding female voice. Everyone in the room tensed – except for Hinata. This was simply an exercise in theatrics to her. One that her "beloved" teacher had used many a time trying to get a reaction out of her students.

"A girl, short and slender, with dark hair and one good eye!"

All eyes in the room moved to Hinata, who suppressed a long-suffering sigh.

"She's there! She's right there!" screamed Kirameki, who was still cowering from behind her mother's desk.

"I see her." A figure materialized as the smoke began to clear. She – for it was clearly female – walked near Kirameki.

"She said she would cut out my tongue!" wailed the blonde girl, growing bold. She stepped out from behind the desk and pointed an accusatory finger at Hinata, who stared her down coldly. "That girl is a menace! A danger to everybody!"

"Kirameki, shut up," said Kai, glaring at her.

"She said she would cut out your tongue?"

Kira nodded pitifully, puffing her lips in a pandering pout. This was the moment in which Anko cut all pretense and swooped down next to Hinata.

"Really? You said that?"

Hinata exhaled quietly and nodded. She knew what was coming.

"That's my girl! I'm so proud!" Anko pinched her cheek and patted her on the head. Kirameki's jaw dropped.

Anda, looking upon the scene with cold fury, shoved his gun back into his tux. "Would you care to explain who you are, and why you have stormed into my casino?"

His attitude was decidedly less hospitable… but at least he was no longer looking at Hinata with intent to capitalize on whatever she could offer. Anko smiled sweetly; he took a clear step backward.

"My beloved student wandered off, now I'm here to claim her," Anko said firmly. "We'll be leaving now."

"Do the ninja of Konohagakure often comport themselves in such a way?" asked the secretary coldly. From behind her Anda perked up, noticing the shiny hitae-ate around her forehead. "Have you no shame? Storming into a respected establishment –"

"'Respected establishment'?" The kunoichi snorted in disbelief. "Sorry, uh –" She leaned over to read the nameplate on her desk – "Shoki-san, but you're gonna have to do better than that. I ain't never gonna call as casino a respected establishment."

"Can we leave now?" Hinata asked quietly, tugging on the sleeve of Anko's revealing trench coat.

Anko grinned down at her student. "Mmkay. I think the boys are up on the north side, so –"

"_No_."

The tokubetsu jounin looked down her nose at Hinata. "'Scuse me?" She noted the sudden duskiness of Hinata's eye and pursed her lips. "And why the hell not?"

"Some of the Uppers tried to arrest her," said Kai quickly, not wanting to see it come to blows. Mostly, he didn't want his uncle to get mad at them for wrecking his secretary's office. Though right now he looked very interested in the two kunoichi. "I doubt she wants to head back up there any time soon."

"Threats of dismemberment and a near-arrest, all in a few short hours? They grow up so fast!" Anko watched the darkness fade from Hinata's gaze fade away. This was new. Now this other personality – this _Akuseiko_ – could push her way out of the prison. So had the bracelets been controlling her before? Or were the bracelets containing the chakra, which, when released in a large amount, provided the mental weakness for Akuseiko to make her move?

"Fuck it all!" Anko proclaimed aloud. "Let's get the hell out of here, okay?"

Hinata nodded, some of the tension slipping out of her shoulders. Both moved toward the frosted double doors –

"Wait, if you please, ladies."

Anda Masato smiled at them in a charming way. His hazel eyes were filled with shrewd thoughts, though, so neither of them fell for it.

"I would like it very much if you would stay here for a bit and work for me. With free room and board, of course."

"What?!"

* * *

Sasuke was the top of his class, a fine male specimen, if he did say so himself, a damn good ninja, the Last Sane Uchiha. Konohagakure's physical representation of their former glory under Sandaime and then Yondaime.

Sasuke was kicking a can.

Yes, the "prodigy" boy who every girl sought after could find nothing better to do with his time and energy than to kick a can…punt, skid, scrape, stop. Repeat.

He hadn't found any places for them to stay – there seemed to be no hotels at all. They were likely sleeping outside tonight. Sasuke grunted – albeit louder than usual – and kicked the can again. No, this was no fun at all. It had taken him a relatively staggering amount of time to realize this. He started to juggle the can with his foot, as one would with a soccer ball. One – two – three – four – five - six…!

It fell to the ground with loud, obnoxious clank. He glared at it angrily.

"Why aren't you providing me more amusement, can? Is this the best you can do?"

"So is this what ninja do in their spare time?"

He whirled around furiously. His anger was more directed at the fact that he had been caught doing something so embarrassing than the fact that he had been caught. "Who the hell are you?"

The girl was tall – taller than him, he noted mulishly – and willowy. She wasn't a true beauty, but she wasn't plain either, and her brown eyes spoke of her intelligence. Her clothes were loose-fitting dark pants, a simple off-white shirt and black cloth shoes. Altogether she looked very…clean. Put together. Self-assured and simple.

Against his better judgment, Sasuke's opinion of this girl was rising every second. From her total lack of fangirlish sycophancy, to her simple clothes, to her calling him out, she was an all-around, honest-to-goodness normal person who didn't care who he was. And he liked it.

"Not usually. Is this town normally so –" He struggled to find the proper word. (Read: the word that would make him sound as cool as he was sure he looked.)

"Slow? Haha, no. Looks like the Uppers and the Devils won't be toeing the line today."

He looked at her oddly. "Uppers and devils?"

"Yeah, Uppers and Devils. The guys from the south side call the policemen from the north side Uppers. The guys from the north side call the south side gangsters Devils. You know, bad blood between two clans and all that bullshit."

"Yeah," he snorted. Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets and looked away. "All that bullshit."

"You've known some clan troubles yourself then?"

"…you could say that."

She had apparently sensed the tension in the air. Another step up from most other girls. "Hmm. I'll show you around town if you want. I even promise to protect you, ninja-san," she said cheekily, smirking a bit. He rolled his eyes, but couldn't prevent a small smirk from finding its way to his own face.

"I'm Sasuke," he said, careful not to give his last name. "And you already know I'm a ninja. Nice to meet you." He actually meant it for once, too.

"I'm Asami, Choudai Asami. C'mon, I'll take you by the food stalls and treat you to lunch. No offense or anything, but you look kind of penniless."

* * *

"We have carefully reviewed the situation, and with the Hokage's blessing, we will be sending a team of ninja to scout the area and report back."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, so much… so, so much…"

Sarutobi looked at the groveling Tazuna emotionlessly.

"_Sir, he won't talk. He won't tell us anything!"_

"_Let me in to talk to him."_

"_Oh, hello there, Hokage-sama."_

"_Tazuna-san, it is in the best interests of your country that you tell us everything you know, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Can you do that for me?" _

"_Do you… have a grandson?"_

"…"

"_Probably, you're definitely old enough, hehe… I have a grandson back home. I think… I hope you forgive me for saying so, Hokage-sama… but I think there are similarities between us. You have your village, I have my bridge. We must keep building up these precious things in order to ensure the future of the ones we hold dear…and sometimes it hurts so much, trying to make a choice between the two. So might you understand, just a little bit, why I did what I did? Why I chose to let my grandson eat for another week instead of telling you the truth? I cannot help but care for my family. And if you will hold me against my will here for a crime like that, well, I officially give up hope for the safety of my village. Gatou can have it."_

Sarutobi had, arguing against his emotional, negative first meeting of Tazuna all the while, softened his stance against the old man. He could not release him – lying to the Hokage the way that he did was unacceptable, if only because he had been ratted out in public. People lied to the Hokage all the time – however, they weren't usually called on it (he paid them back later…) and they didn't usually involve threatening the safety of the most socially valuable population in the village – his genin. How dare he! Had been Sarutobi's first thought after Tazuna had been found out. His inner deliberations regarding the man had been mentally exhausting.

He had arranged a substitute mission for the one Tazuna had proposed. Instead of him being led back home, protected by a group of ninja, a group of ninja would be sent out to assess the claims made by Tazuna, and judge whether Konoha had the need – or the right – to get involved in the situation. His bridge, Sarutobi told him, would just have to wait. Tazuna perked up when he was told that if indeed Konoha felt the need to get involved, it would be free of charge – and Konoha would even offer them a nice alliance if it all worked out.

Thus, the Hokage found himself assembling a team to go and scout Wave country for suspicious activities and – to a lesser degree – injustices felt by the people there. He found it slightly ironic that the team he formed was composed almost entirely of genin.

"Have Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Haruno Sakura marked down for a C-ranked mission," Sarutobi said slowly to his secretary, puffing on his pipe. "And add Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai to that list."

* * *

Everyone turned to stare at Shoki Mayakashi, the busty secretary. She looked all at once worried, confused, and furious.

"Anda-sama, I must object!" cried Mayakashi. "This – these – people cannot be allowed to taint your good name!" She walked out from behind her desk and hurried over to him. Leaning close to him, she began to whisper into his ear.

"Besides these are wild ninja women! We don't really know what they're capable of – they could be up to any number of things – they are trained in stealth in ways that our men are not and –"

"Be quiet, Maya-chan. You're offending our guests," said Anda, very sincerely. She swiveled her head and stared at Anko and Hinata. Both of them were looking straight back, and neither looked amused.

"Look, Ampa, or Anpo, or whatever your name is, let's get one thing clear: I don't give a damn what some no-name sycophant like _her _calls me. On the other hand, her inability to realize that from three feet away we'd hear every bit of your conversation is, frankly, insulting. You better make us a damn good offer in the next five seconds, or else we're heading out."

"Like I said, free room and board, along with payment at the end of your stay here. Fifty ryou a day – each," he said, seeing Anko's look. "From six in the morning until six at night, you will be my personal bodyguards, along with the usual entourage. Of course, that's held in shifts, so you will get period breaks throughout the day. Does that sound reasonable?"

Hianta looked up toward Anko's contemplative face. She knew it was an act – of course her teacher would accept. Technically, missions like these were allowed – they just were not put on the permanent record of a ninja, unless they did something either very great or very terrible enough to warrant it on their permanent records. "Missions" like the one they were about to accept were actually quite common among most ninja, except during times of war, in which they were required to be home as soon as possible. She had read about all of this in a heavy, rather boring tome entitled _Shinobi Clans and Customs in Konohagakure no Sato Dating Back to Pre-Founding of Konoha and the Formation of the Godaikoku._

She'd been required to do much extra reading in an attempt to line up her school work with that of her graduating classmates. She knew that her current store of information was woefully insufficient. So many rules… and wasn't there a rule about the entire team participating on a side project like this one?

"We –"

Anko looked down. Hinata was tugging on her jacket. The girl beckoned that she should lean down.

"Don't you think we should consult Kakashi-sensei before we do this?"

"Wha? Nah! That bastard'll try and get in on our deal - he'll take all the credit for our hard work, as always – and he'll probably get paid more because he's a man! No way, Hinata, no way. We accept!" She said the last part louder, straightening up and turning to Anda. He clapped his hands together happily.

"Well, I am glad this could work out so well," he said as he beamed at the two of them. "Nephew, show these two ladies to their rooms please."

Kai, who had his own little grin on his face, led the way out of the room and back into the casino, leaving a fuming Mayakashi and Kirameki behind them.

* * *

"And here's basically where the dividing line is," explained Asami. Sasuke noticed that the buildings took on slum-like qualities after a certain point. They made an interesting contrast to the cheery, white-trimmed houses of the lower north side. The iconic white picket fences looked especially new next to the brown, garbage-filled grasses of the south side.

"Hn."

"Quite the articulate one, aren't you?" Asami laughed a bit at his expense. He shrugged it off and turned away to hide his small grin.

"Reika-sama!" cried a voice from behind the pair of teenagers. Both turned in unison, and saw two men wearing official-looking black kimono struggling to catch up with the two of them.

"You ruffian! Stay away from Reika-sama!"

"Ah, shit," Asami said. She grabbed his wrist and tugged him into an alley on their left. "Time to go!"

"Who the hell are those guys? And why did they call you Reika?" Sasuke easily kept up with her as she led him through narrow, winding alleyways. He knew that if he hadn't been a ninja, he likely would've already hit his head on something, or at the very least tripped. She'd obviously done this hundreds of times before.

"Bodyguards – my father likes to set them on me," she said with marked distaste.

"Who are you?" Sasuke hissed. He stopped suddenly, her hold on his wrist making her nearly overbalance as she ground to a halt in front of him. "I don't enjoy being lied to." He'd certainly had enough deception in his lifetime. Village elders who "just wanted the best" for him, fangirls who thought they knew all about him, a brother who -

"I'm Asami!" she said, eyebrows scrunching indignantly. "It is a nickname, but it's still who I am. My full name is Reikasamiko."

"…"

"Yeah, it's obnoxious – why do you think I go by Asami?"

"Sorry," he muttered, only half-meaning it.

"It's fine. Sorry I snapped, but my …status… is sort of a sore point for me." He stifled a smirk as she angrily kicked a can next to her foot. She seemed to realize what she had down and smiled a bit herself as they looked at each other.

"So that's what girls do in their spare time, eh?"

"You're pretty smooth, Sasuke-kun!"

Oh, _gods _no.

Kakashi was standing right behind them, clearly grinning underneath his mask. "Ah, what a sweet thing young love is!" He ruffled Sasuke's hair affectionately.

"Careful – you're beginning to sound a bit like Gai-sensei."

Sasuke's words were rewarded with a recoil. "Yeesh! Lay off me, kid! Anyway, I came to tell you that we have one more assignment to fulfill before we head home."

Sasuke made a face. "Did we get a dispatch or something from Konoha?"

"No, I've just been asked to help out a certain mayor keep track of his wayward daughter." Kakashi slowly looked around Sasuke to look at Asami. She sighed.

"Damn it…"

"Speaking of, it's about time we got you home, missy. Lover boy, you walk next to her and make sure that she doesn't run, got it?"

* * *

"One bowl of miso ramen, hot off the stove," said the greasy cook with an oily smile, sliding the meager portion across the slight sticky counter to rest in front of Naruto. He eyed it suspiciously, but dug in eventually. Hunger was a bitch like that. His mouth nearly rejected it anyway. It wasn't that bad, he supposed – he was just so used to delicious, bountiful, affordable Ichiraku that anything else paled in comparison.

He managed to grimace nicely at the old chef manning this particular ramen stand, who apparently took it as a positive sign because he grinned. His mouth was devoid of nearly all teeth, Naruto found. His eyes dropped down to his food again. Ugh. When had he gotten so – _picky_?

"…don't know where we can eat, all the places around her look sort of sketchy…"

"…have barely any money, so our choices are sort of limited." Two women were talking in an almost obnoxiously loud fashion – at least one of them was. The other one was harder to hear, and seemed more reserved.

"But Tsunade-sama, we don't want to get salmonella like last time we went for price over quality, do we?"

"I'm saving money right now."

"…"

"Why are you looking at me like that? Pfft. C'mon, this place looks cheap enough."

Naruto looked over his shoulder a bit to glance at the two that were coming in. When they made their way through the grungy half-curtain, his eyes widened. He didn't know what he'd been expected, but it hadn't been –

"Oi! What're you staring at?" said the first woman, glaring crossly at him. He snorted, coming out of a slight daze. "Just a saggy old grandma," he said tauntingly. It was the opposite of what he saw. If anything, the, ah, tremendously busty blonde woman could be his older sister, or maybe a young aunt. Kyuubi's whisper in the back of his mind told him that this was a genjutsu, and that this woman was extremely powerful.

Her brown, hawk-like eyes narrowed at him, furrowed brows drawing attention to the little blue diamond on her forehead. He was distracted momentarily – until he heard what she said next.

"Who the _hell _do you think you are? Dumbass little brat!"

"Old ugly hag!"

"Pesky ninja wannabe! Looks like Konoha'll promote anyone nowadays!" She said with a sneer, flicking his forehead protector. He bristled immediately.

"Fuck you!" People doubting him still left an awful taste in his mouth. "I passed the exam and then the bell test – I don't need the approval of some washed up banshee!"

"Tsunade-sama, restrain yourself!" The lithe, dark-haired woman finally made a move, throwing her arms around Tsunade's waist. "He's only a genin!"

"Bwee!" A little pig had made its way up the counter and was now sticking it's snout in Naruto's ramen. "Hey! You dumb little porker!" Angrily, he leapt down from his seat and began to storm out of the ramen stand. The cook, who had been cowering behind the counter, finally spoke up.

"Hey! Aren't you gonna pay for this?"

Naruto turned around slowly, still glaring. "Put it on _her _tab," he said coldly, pointing at Tsunade. He started to walk away again when –

"_**NO!" **_Both females had yelled in unison.

"Alright, that's it," said the blonde woman, voice as cool as Naruto's now. "You're going down, brat!"

"I'm sorry, but Tsunade-sama's bills are numerous enough as it is," said the slender brunette anxiously. The pig that had been taste-testing Naruto's ramen was now cradled in her arms.

"I don't even care," he said. Now they were in the middle of the street, drawing attention from everybody who was out and about.

"You're gonna regret this day," said Tsunade, rolling up her sleeves.

"You'll never forget this when I'm done with you – don't cross one of the Legendary Sannin!"

* * *

Ta da!


	9. the unholy trinity

Hi. This is late.

Um, yeah.

ONWARD.

* * *

**Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Nine: The Unholy Trinity_

* * *

The two-story house had obviously been a nice place in which to live at one time. But now it wasn't. The white paint was peeling in some places and cracked in others. There were nicks and cuts in the wood frame, and even a few gouges that looked like they had been made by swords. The village itself was eerily quiet; the people who were walking around town seemed either listless or jumpy – thought mostly just depressed. People definitely got jittery around the ninja, despite their obviously warm feelings for Tazuna. After all, he was the only one to whom they would bother to wave or smile.

The trip to the village had been mostly uneventful, except for one thwarted attack attempt. Shino and Kiba had quickly detected two hiding chuunin that meant to attack the two teams. After being discovered, the "Demon Brothers" went on to say that Tazuna would never escape their clutches, and that every attempt by the Konoha ninja to protect him was doomed to failure. They had begun to make moves toward Tazuna – Sakura wasted no time in stepping in front of the man defensively – before keeling over on the ground in a dead faint. Shino's destruction bugs then detached and flew back to him, flying up his sleeves.

Asuma had looked slightly impressed. Kurenai was proud, and told them all so. Team 10 seemed slightly in shock. Of course, that had been a common state of being for Ino after Sakura's big changes. Sakura occasionally sparred with her – but not with words, only with taijutsu. Every time, Sakura, who had never even gotten close to Ino's level of taijutsu – the highest of all the girls in the class, and better than some boys – came one step closer to besting her. They never argued about Sasuke anymore, despite Ino's prodding her at every given opportunity. And they never just talked about girly things, either. Even her state of dress had changed. No more red – only serviceable, practical green.

Ino decided that she hated green.

"Thank you again," said Tazuna with a low bow as they walked to the front door of his house. "Please come in. Tsunami! Inari! I'm home!"

"Father?" A woman with a pink shirt and dark eyes looked startled at the sight of them, then relieved, and then happy. "Father!"

The ninja teams watched the affectionate hug with various levels of discomfort or "Awwww"-ness, mostly depending on gender. It all turned into discomfort when Tsunami said in what she thought was a quiet whisper, "why are the Konoha ninja here? We thought they'd imprisoned you!"

"I would like to see my grandson," said Tazuna gently. "Then I will explain everything. In the meantime, please give these Konoha nin a very warm greeting, for we all owe them a lot."

Warily, Tsunami smiled at them. Kurenai took the liberty of warmly introducing herself and fellow shinobi to the woman, who gradually became more open to them. She was a very kind woman, and even offered to let them stay in their home, which the shinobi declined. (It was not of much consequence to survive in the outdoors, especially in the late spring weather and given the outdoors specialty of Team 8. Ino was despairing.) They were just starting to feel more comfortable when a small, pale boy raced down the stairs and pointed an accusing finger at all of them.

"Grandpa! Why are these evil Konoha bastards in our_ house_?!"

It was going to be a long mission…

* * *

Anko stretched luxuriously on the plush, full-sized, Western-style bed she had been given – a definite departure from her futon at home. After spending a night in the high-class rooms, she was well-rested and ready for her first day on duty. The Cheshire grin on her face, though, had not faded since seeing the horrified faces of Mayakashi and Kirameki. She half-wondered if she'd done what she did purely for the look on their faces, but then brushed the thought away. It was the promise of a little extra money that spurred her on. Bit of spare padding never hurt anyone!

Hinata sat on her bed as well, but did not seem as enthused as her sensei to be in their position; and Anko, despite her loud and rabble-rousing nature, was quite observant.

"Hinata-chan, what's wrong?"

"We haven't seen Naruto-san or Sasuke-san. Or Kakashi-sensei," she said in her customary way – only as loud as absolutely necessary. "It's been twelve hours."

"Don't worry about those boys. They're holding up just fine," said Anko dismissively. Hinata did not relax. This being apart from her teammates set her on edge. She'd been in their company almost constantly for a long while now, and both the fact that they weren't with her now and that it meant so much to her was alarming.

"Tell you what. Once we get off shift today, we'll go and look for them if we haven't found them yet, okay?

Hinata did not look too impressed by her decision. However, Hinata didn't show too much emotion generally, so Anko didn't let it bother her.

"Ready to go?" Anko said in reply to the silence. Hinata nodded.

"Good. Let's go guard some yakuza boss ass, okay?"

* * *

The floor was hard and cold, easily felt through the raggedy futon. His holey blanket was made for an infant, not for a growing teenage boy. A large, hairy man had given him a rude awakening two hours before dawn so that he could attend to his duties.

This certainly wasn't the treatment that an Uchiha deserved!

"Are you awake over there, onna-tarashi?" Kakashi asked him, barely being able to conceal his snickering as they both ate breakfast – if it could be called that – a sparse affair of water and stale bread. Yuck. Sasuke clenched his jaw at Kakashi's new nickname. Playboy. _Playboy! _He was never going to live this one down. And he hadn't even done anything embarrassing! Suddenly the fact that he was talking to a girl was big news! He spoke with Anko and Hinata all the time!

…and there was the catch, he supposed angrily. He _needed_ to communicate with Anko and Hinata so that their team could function properly. With Asami, he didn't have to speak with her. He didn't even have to be around her. It was all of his own free will. At least, until Kakashi had enlisted himself and Sasuke to the cause of guarding the mayor – and, subsequently, guarding his daughter.

So now he was here, watching the mayor of this no-name little town leisurely nibble on a large, very delicious-looking breakfast. It took all of his willpower to keep his stomach from growling. Every once in a while, the man would glance over at him, his gaze getting darker and angrier with every look. Sasuke glared right back. This man was an amateur; he wouldn't know a half-decent scowl if it came up and slapped him in the face. Which is what Sasuke's current scowl would do if it could, because Mayor Okonomokoro was really starting to piss him off.

"Alright, _boy_, let's get this over with right now," he said suddenly, twisting fully in his seat that he could lock eyes with Sasuke. "You were flirting with my daughter yesterday afternoon. Don't deny it! I've heard it all – multiple accounts, even!"

Sasuke shifted his glare to Kakashi, who looked away, whistling innocently.

"And I have this to say about the whole situation. As it were." He stood up and walked toward Sasuke, attempting to tower over him and failing miserably. Sheer stubbornness worked something like killing intent on a smaller scale, and Sasuke had loads of it. Still, he attempted to intimidate the genin as he began his tirade.

"She is a high-bred girl, out of whom everyone expects great things. She is the last in a line of very prestigious nobility, the Okonomokoro. And I will be damned if I let some half-rate ninja-child attempt to coerce her into a relationship!"

There was a long silence. The man was breathing heavily, his face red with anger. Sasuke looked him up and down coolly.

"With all due respect, sir, I am not a boy, or a child, I am a legal adult, and would appreciate it if you would treat me as such. I am not a servant at your beck and call, either; I am a ninja, and you have hired me for a brief period due to some sort of agreement with my sensei. I have free will and I will use it how I please. Whether or not that choice pertains to your daughter remains to be seen. Furthermore, since my Hokage did not assign this mission to me, I have no obligation to you or to your contract. I can leave at any time."

This had shocked him into a stupor. Mayor Okonomokoro stared at Sasuke like nobody had ever taken him down a peg. This was going to be a good one.

"In regard to your supposedly illustrious bloodline, I sincerely doubt the truth to your claims since no such name has, to my knowledge, ever been on the Godaikoku Nobility Registry, of which I am well-acquainted."

Ah, politics. The art of making somebody feel like he was a low-class scumbag while being totally polite. Not everything from his lessons – so long ago – had worn off. This was good; it allowed him to make a fool of this pompous old man. He already took enough shit from Kakashi about his relationship with Asami, he wasn't going to take anything from anybody else, client or not.

But relationship had too strong a connotation. Acquaintance. Yes, that was the perfect, detached word. No, he had absolutely no feelings for the girl behind that of a distantly pleasant friend.

"Have a seat, sir, I think your breakfast may be getting cold." Sasuke smirked as Mayor Okonomokoro stumbled back to his seat, shoving food into his mouth listlessly.

"I think that's the longest consecutive stream of words that you've ever said in front of me," said Kakashi, blinking his one visible eye. "Hm!"

"I do have a question, sir," said Sasuke, still very polite. Mayor Okonomokoro paused and slowly turned to look at him. "Yesterday, Asami-chan told me that her last name was Choudai. Why did she?" Sasuke's smirk widened when he saw the man's jaw clench with the familiar address of –chan.

He harrumphed and turned back around. "Don't ask me to fathom the mind of a teenage girl," he said. "I have no idea _why _she did it. Choudai, though, was her mother's maiden name."

This was when Asami – or was it Reikasamiko? – chose to stroll into the room, unconcerned with but aware of the tension between her father and her friend.

"Good morning," she said, leaning her weight on the seat next to her father's lazily before pulling the chair out and sitting down. "How are you today, papa?" Asami asked with a wide, innocent smile as the server filled her plate.

"Well, my dear," said the mayor, softening under the sweet treatment. "And how are you?"

"Well," she answered primly. "Papa, I want to go into town today. May I?"

"After yesterday's fiasco, I'm not sure that I want to let you go," he said. There was a frown etched across his face as he looked over at her calculatingly. She looked at him with a pleading pout.

"But papa! I'll take an escort!"

"Oh, really now? And who exactly were you thinking?"

Asami smiled winningly. "Who could be better escorts than a pair of ninja?"

"WHAT?! You want to take _that boy _with you –"

"'That boy' has a teacher, papa. You would doubt the skill of a shinobi like Kakashi-san would you?"

"But the boy!"

Ten minutes later, a grumbling Mayor Okonomokoro watched his daughter go, all the while cursing those brown doe eyes that looked just like her mother's own.

"I'm guessing you do this a lot," said Kakashi intuitively, having watched the short battle of wills that had taken place.

"Yeah, about every day. I never used to go out of that house at all, it was killing me. So eventually I got him to let me go as long as I took an escort… and I usually get to pick the escort. Just pick the right person, and I'm basically home free."

"What about yesterday, then?" Sasuke asked her. Asami scowled. "A snitch. I usually have a better sense of who I can trust not to rat me out, but not this time I guess."

The two teens walked side-by-side in companionable silence for several minutes; the town over which Mayor Okonomokoro presided slowly came into view as they reached the pinnacle of a hill. Kakashi walked ahead of them, whistling gaily with a spring in his step. As they reached the very edge of the city, he turned around in a flurry of unexpected motion.

"I don't know about you two, but I am starving!" Kakashi interrupted suddenly, his curved eyes indicating a smile. "I'm going to find something to eat. Later!"

"Your sensei has all the subtlety of a rampaging elephant," said Asami thoughtfully as she watched the back of Kakashi disappear in the midmorning marketplace.

"And for once, I'm glad he does."

* * *

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, feeling the gazes of Tsunade and Shizune heavy on him. He was largely unused to attention; therefore, having the utter concentration of two older women on him – especially two older women who happened to be exceedingly powerful or tremendously skilled or both, in Tsunade's case - was unnerving. The familiar scowl marred his face to conceal his discomfort.

"Yeah? Is there something you need?"

"You… should still be unconscious right now from the beating shishou gave you!" said Shizune in breathy amazement. "Your healing capabilities are incredible…!"

"Yeah, well. I should leave. Thanks for not leaving me on the street."

Underneath the sarcasm was a hint of gratitude. He really was grateful. If he'd been in Konoha…

Neither of the other two failed to pick up on this hint of emotion. Tsunade nodded curtly. "No problem kid. But before you leave, you're gonna have to answer a few questions for me. If you don't mind." Judging by the look on her face, she knew he really had no choice, especially after being beaten so handily by this woman. The loss continued to rankle at him, despite the fact that she was eons out of his league for the moment.

"Shoot."

"First off – if you're really a Konoha ninja, what rank are you? And if you're a genin, where's your sensei? You shouldn't be wandering the countryside of Hi no Kuni."

"I am a genin, and if you know anything about Konoha ninja, you'll probably understand why at least one of my sensei is deviant – it's because his name is Hatake Kakashi."

"One of multiple? How many do you have exactly?"

"Two."

After a moment of silence Tsunade glared at him. "Well? Who's the other?"

"Geez lady, do you want my life story? I don't even know how you relate to Konoha. You could be someone that I should watch out for all that I know."

"How can I prove it to you? Look, do you see this necklace?" Easily forgettable in the proportions of her chest, a glistening green gem rested there, twinkling slightly in the midmorning light. Naruto eyed it warily.

A gem similar to that was supposed to have belonged to the Shodai Hokage, if he remembered from the Kyuubi's lessons correctly. His Furriness talked about that stone with both loathing and respect; he hated it, yet realized the awesome power it must possess in order to hold sway over a bijuu of his standing. A sliver of intuition told him that this was the real deal; he decided to play dumb anyway.

"So you've got a sparkly rock on a string. That don't say much to me," he said with a snort, crossing his arms and turning away. Her eyebrow twitched in warning.

"How about this!" She pulled a scroll out of nowhere and handed it to him. His eyes widened immeasurably – this seal was too familiar, too authentic, to be anybody's but that of Sarutobi. Apparently, this woman really knew Hokage-ojiisan.

"This doesn't prove a thing," he said. "Only that you've been into contact with Hokage-sama. I'm sure that he exchanges letters with plenty of people that he doesn't like."

Tsunade hid her smirk. This boy was a good actor, but he really had to work on sustaining the image. As soon as she had given him a more feasible clue, his voice had decreased in volume and stupidity, and his vocabulary and articulation had shifted abruptly from basic to above average. This boy truly didn't know who he was dealing with – a genius, a student of the Sandaime Hokage, a Sannin. He honestly stood no chance against her comparatively towering intellect! The poor thing.

"After all, who could like an ugly hag like you?" said Naruto with an evil grin, cackling at the rising ire on her face. Merrily he twirled, dancing out of her reach for a split second before her fist of justice came down full force on his head –

_Poof._

"A CLONE?!"

Naruto hummed quietly as he scaled the vertical edge of Tsunade's cheap motel with chakra. The echoes of his cackling remained on his face as a stretched-wide grin – the ultimate prankster within him still lived. And now it had this nifty scroll from Hokage-ojiisan to collect for the hoard.

* * *

In the balmy hours following midday, Anda Masato and his nephew Kai decided to go for a leisurely stroll around the edge of their territory. To Anko, this rang a warning bell in her mind. Anda knew of Hinata's rather violent interaction with the policemen of the north side. And he wasn't stupid. She quickly came to the conclusion that he was planning something. So the question now was, what? The idea that he might have some sort of alliance with those policemen was unconceivable; she'd been on the north side, and they were some of the most uptight bastards she'd ever been condescended by in her life – and that was nothing to sneer at considering she had shared a village with the Hyuuga clan since her birth.

No, those people would never lower themselves to mix with the likes of Anda. Was he trying to start a fight, and banking on the ninja? Well, he was shit out of luck if he expected something like that. They'd been hired to protect him, not fight his fights for him.

That didn't seem right either. He wasn't one to do anything without weighing consequences first. It was likely to show off his new prizes, and to send a message to the other side.

But it was still annoying, she thought as they rounded a corner. Just walking around this little town, like a show dog being put through its paces. Nothing was happ –

"Walk faster, boy! My granddaughter needs a good strong husband!"

"Grandpa, really, this isn't necessary. We were actually going faster before you showed up."

"No, no, Reika-chan, he needs to know what I expect for him in the next few years. Fifteen is the lowest age of consent for marriage in the Godaikoku, so we've only got precious few years left before his worth expires!"

It took all of her willpower for Anko not to laugh at Sasuke's embarrassed and infuriated face. The slight red hue to his cheeks only made the situation all the more hilarious. The exalted Uchiha was helping an elderly man – obviously the grandfather to the girl on his other side – cross the road, and all the while the older man was making some of the most entertainingly demeaning and emasculating comments she'd ever heard directed at a male. Suddenly walking around with Anda didn't seem like such a chore.

"Ahh, it appears as though one of your comrades from the Hidden Leaf has run afoul of some Uppers," said Anda with a subtly amused grin on his face as he gazed at the strange trio. As if sensing his gaze, the grandfather's head snapped toward the entourage of Devils.

"Boy! _Boy! _ You _must_ protect my beloved granddaughter from those hooligans!"

"But they aren't doing anything," Sasuke hissed in annoyance, unheard by those just several yards to his right – in contrast to the words of the old man, which likely could have been heard by half the village of Shinboku. Anko and Hinata showed no sign of recognition; he followed suit. If they weren't going to say anything, then he wasn't either.

"I don't _care_! They could do something!"

Sasuke repressed a snarl. This stupid, crotchety old man had ruined their walk entirely. He had literally appeared out of nowhere, demanded why the two young people did not have a proper escort or at least a foot of space between them, and had proceeded to make Sasuke as miserable as possible. The one moment when his back was turned, Asami leaned over to tell him that her half-deaf grandfather had likely been sent out by – surprise, surprise – her father in order to keep her in line. All of the servants he sent out to catch her were beginning to ask for salary raises because of the strenuous exercise required to catch her and bring her back to the mansion successfully. At this point, her grandfather, Okonomokoro Hajime, had turned back from giving a street vendor a mean-spirited telling off and yelled at Sasuke not to molest his granddaughter with his dirty ninja eyes.

At least this was breaking up the monotony. Though he'd catch hell from Anko later, and Naruto would never let him live this down if she told him.

"I doubt that old guy's gonna shut up," said Anko with annoyance. "If you're interested in some entertainment, Anda-san…"

"Oh? Wouldn't it be a little – ah – unethical, or something, to fight someone from one's own village?"

Anko could tell that he was interested anyway, so she pressed on. "For them, it would be something like a training exercise. To the old man? He'd shut up. And for you… entertainment, right?"

This would be perfect. If Anda saw a little glimpse of what was going on here today and liked it (which he would – Sasuke and Hinata were two of the best), he would probably hire from Konoha in the future. And from what she'd seen so far, he didn't do anything illegal, or anything that would be considered taboo by the Hokage. All she was getting done, and all by mere coincidence… Anko smirked a bit.

"Go on, Hinata-chan. Show him your stuff."

Hinata looked up at her sensei, a questioning look on her face.

"Don't hurt him too bad. You know, just make is convincing."

The young girl shrugged and began to walk forward, so that now Sasuke was only separated from her by six footsteps of space. The old man behind him was still yelling and shaking his fist angrily at her and the rest of the people behind her. She looked closer at him. There was a gleam in his eye – he was doing this on purpose. To test Sasuke, maybe?

Hinata slowly shifted into a ready stance, cocking her eyebrow at her secret teammate. He looked past her briefly. Anko was only smirking in her usual way.

Well, if she wasn't going to protest…

Hinata moved first, which surprised him; usually she was the one who was waiting for the attack. But he took it in stride and they clashed, simultaneously reaching to hit with one hand and blocking their opponent with the other. They shared a secret smile, unseen by either Anda or Asami and flew away from each other, poised to attack again.

Hinata took the initiative again, jumping toward him in the air with a basic flying bird kick that would've bruised his sternum. Instead she landed roughly on the ground behind him and left a small crater. His hand shot out to land a blow to the back of her neck but she knew him too well; her flexible form bent under his attacking arm and her fingers struck a pressure point between his shoulder and his other arm. He jumped away, hissing.

"Take me seriously, idiot," she admonished gently.

While he glared at her for inflicting the first injury, he took a stronger stance. "Fine. I didn't know you wanted to lose that badly," he said with a sneer – his automatic reaction.

Sasuke rushed at her again, this time with colder eyes and more force behind his punch when his fist glanced the edge of her jaw. She rebounded quickly and struck his ribcage with her foot. Sasuke's scowl deepened and his leg shot out to trip her. He moved to drive his elbow into her gut but she moved more quickly and twisted his arm around his back instead.

From then on they were locked in a close-combat match with each other, neither breaking concentration from the match.

Sasuke landed his best hit five minutes later. By then they had picked up speed sufficiently so that neither Anda Masato and his yakuza nor Asami and her grandfather could follow their movements with any accuracy. Anko's smirk continued to grow. He had caught Hinata right in the chest with his foot and sent her hurtling toward the stone wall of the nearest building. When she was near to hitting it full force she instead flipped her body and landed on the wall with chakra. Not skipping a beat, she ran up the side of the building, propelled herself off of it using both chakra and physical strength, and then proceeded to rain senbon down on Sasuke as she flipped over him. He raised his arms defensively then took off after her, pulling a kunai from his pouch.

She pulled one too and they were locked in close combat again, this time using metal as extensions of their arms. He was struggling to keep up with her superior speed but just barely.

"You may beat me in ninjutsu and genjutsu, Sasuke-san…but I believe I still possess seniority where taijutsu and close combat are concerned," she said with lilting innocence that disguised the smirk hidden behind her words.

"I can bring them into the mix if you want it that bad – but I just don't think we should risk it with these people hanging around here," he said, keeping step with her as they conversed.

"Ah. You don't want to hurt your new girlfriend, I understand."

"She is _not _my girlfriend," he said, louder than he intended. The sound carried.

One of Anda's subordinates cocked his ear. "What did that kid say?"

The grin on Anko's face had become positively devilish. "Something about a girlfriend, I believe." Though her voice hadn't changed, Anko's face now resembled the usual manic grin her students were used to her sporting. She stood in front of her client so that he wouldn't notice. That sort of thing tended to hurt business. She zeroed in on the fight once more.

"She's a girl that I met, and then Kakashi decided that we would work under her father as protection for her. That's _it_."

"I wonder what Ino and Sakura would do if they saw you with her? You two seemed very friendly."

"Just - !" He stopped himself, and blocked her kick. She was doing this on purpose, playing mind games with him. She knew all too well that he would be affected by this conversation, and was thus playing into the scheme. Not anymore, though.

A subtle pout formed on her lips and he grinned grimly at her in response.

"How serious do you think we should get?"

"Knowing Anko-sensei…she won't stop us until we're striking the killing blow."

"Sounds like fun, doesn't it?" said Sasuke, his lip quirked upward. Her acknowledging and slightly sheepish nod transformed his quirked lip into a full on smirk. "Good." There was only a slight sense of dissatisfaction – if only it were Naruto. Now there was a rival he could truly enjoy beating the shit out of. Hinata was a good substitute, but nothing really got him going like a good fight with Naruto… which they hadn't had in weeks…

His nostalgia cost him and Hinata's fist hit him squarely on the nose. "Shit!" That crunching didn't sound good.

"Sorry, but I guess I figured you would dodge that," she replied, her voice quiet voice laced with a scathing undertone. Her earlier warning flashed back to him: _Take me seriously, idiot. _She wasn't Naruto… that didn't mean she wasn't an opponent he could dismiss.

"If that's how you want it…"

She spotted the tiger seal in the flurry of his hands, and immediately began to back off. He really was being serious.

"Katon: Ryuuka no jutsu!"

Anko glanced to just behind her on her right. Now, Anda's eyes were truly enthralled with the match before him. He drank in the sight of a young boy perhaps a third of his age spit a stream of fire from his mouth like it was child's play. She'd never really considered opening her own business, but if she was this good at selling the product, maybe the idea merited another look…

She turned to the fight again. Sasuke and Hinata rarely fought; either it was Naruto versus Sasuke, or Naruto versus Hinata. (That blonde brat never seemed to tire.) In fact, both of them seemed to enjoy the company of Naruto more than that of each other. Here, she frowned. It was weird how attached they were all getting to that kid…

"Reika-sama!"

"What are you doing in plain view of those Devils?!"

Hinata and Sasuke paused their battle instantly. He noticed that the expression on her face grew colder the second she sensed them. Sasuke no longer possessed her full attention, or even most of it. He followed her line of sight and found that she was eyeing two policemen in particular with venom. On his other side, and further away, Asami smacked her forehead.

"Oh, shit," said Asami, looking very annoyed.

Anko watched the young girl throw her head into the palm of her hand. Obviously the brown-clad policemen from the north side were not wanted here. The tokubetsu jounin could feel the yakuza thugs around her shuffle and mutter to themselves about how that puny girl couldn't possibly take out all of those policemen. She shifted and glared at them.

"Did I just hear you badmouth my beloved student?" Her glare was ferocious. "With your permission, Anda-san…"

"It would be my pleasure to watch Hinata-san at work," said Masato, sounding all the while like a gracious host.

Anko grinned. "Good." She whistled loud, drawing the attention of both genin. "Yo! Hinata-chan! You have my full permission to take them out! Oh, and keep killing to a minimum, would you? I don't want a repeat of the other mission!"

Hinata nodded. She would not let her sensei down… and she would not let Akuseiko control her again. She vanished into the shadow of a nearby building, "initiating full ninja mode" as Naruto had begun to call it. The men in brown panicked.

"Where did she go?"

"She's a criminal, we can't just let her escape!"

Criminal? Sasuke frowned. But what had she done wrong? His eyes gazed over at the gathering behind Anko. All of them men – one boy, he reevaluated. The younger kid and one man stood out – the kid because of his age, and the man because of his clothing, which was finer than anything the others had. Their leader had an eyepatch…

Did they associate Hinata with this looks-like-they're-illegal group because of her single eye? That would make the most sense.

While Sasuke was busy ruminating on this new dilemma, Hinata was taking out the bigoted policemen, who would judge her just by her eyes. One by one she picked them off, using her senbon and a detailed knowledge of pressure points.

"Shit! Where's the girl?"

"I don't knoaaaaahhhhh…"

"Haru, are you alright? Haru?"

"_AHHHHHHHHHH!_"

Something brightly-colored and screaming was catapulted into the middle of the madness, slamming into the ground at a high speed and making a long, teenage boy-thick line in the ground that came to a stop at Sasuke's feet.

"Owowowowowowowwww!"

Sasuke coughed at the sudden cloud of dust that flew up into his face and several small pebbles struck his body. Whoever it was had dumped a bunch of dirt on his feet and made a pebble hit his tender, still-broken nose. The only possible person who could cause him this much annoyance in a single instance must be -

"Dead last…?"

"Bastard…? Who broke your nose, I should send them flowers!"

Naruto grinned up at his stoic teammate. Both of his own eyes were black and blue, and one cheek looked swollen. His clothes were also in tattered and warn.

"What the hell? Where have you been?"

"_When I get my hands on you, brat…!"_

An unearthly voice echoed down a side street and into the ears of everyone gathered. It sent chills down the spines of all people, regardless of the separate and warring north and south sides. Naruto's grin disappeared in an instant and was replaced by the face more suited to a terrified child than a ninja.

"Teme – she's going to dismember me – disembowel me - disrespect me, even!"

"Who is going to dis what?"

"Hinata-chan!" said Naruto with relief. He scrambled into a crouch and took her hands in his. "Maybe you can calm her down – you have a way about you – people don't like to be mad at you! At least I don't, but that's not the point - "

"I thought you were taking care of the policemen," said Sasuke, his tone bordering on accusatory as he looked at Hinata. She barely met his gaze.

"I… was worried," she said, even more quiet than normal. "About both of you. I hadn't seen you… in what seemed a while…"

They both turned to stare, the cloud of dust that Naruto had created giving them precious few seconds to spare and to speak. The boys stared a moment too long, and she looked away, the slightest shade of pink dusting her cheeks. "I…don't mean to offend…" Of course, why would they want the concern of a girl like her – a girl who was never really honest with them, a girl who rarely spoke, who was quiet and introverted…

Nobody had ever said these words to Naruto before. He grinned brightly and slung an affectionate arm around her shoulder, leaning closer. "Thanks Hinata-chan! That means a lot to me," he said sincerely, grinning.

"You shouldn't worry about me," said Sasuke with a dismissive snort, turning away. "I don't need it." The dust was slowly clearing. "But…thanks anyway."

The rumbling should've alerted them. Instead, it was only when the ground in front of them collapsed that they broke the moment. They landed next to each other, back to back. Sasuke faced Anko and the Devils; Hinata was looking at the Upper policemen who were still conscious; and Naruto was turned toward the direction of that shout.

"What the hell is going on?" said Anda angrily. Anko only looked at him with a calm demeanor. "It seems as though the unholy trinity of Konoha genin has been reunited… and look at all the trouble they've caused!" There was an edge of glee to her voice that made Anda uncomfortable. The next words spoken halted all action with their killing intent and ferocity.

"I've finally got you where I want you, brat!"

Sasuke stared in something akin to fear and awe. The newest threat was tall, ridiculously buxom, and blonde, and her face was twisted in a fearsome glare that dominated her otherwise attractive features. The chakra radiating from her made her entrance all the more frightening. It was hard to scare a kid like Sasuke. But this woman managed it, even though her killing intent was all directed at Naruto. A shorter, slender companion appeared beside her, with a much quieter entrance.

"You'll never take me alive, granny!"

"_I'm not trying to,_" she hissed, voice lowering an octave.

"Holy shit – it can't be!" Anko whispered to herself.

Hinata blinked slowly.

"Tsunade-san…?"

* * *

DUN DUN DUN.

AGAIN.

How long has it been? And to think I once wanted to update this story on a weekly basis... bah.

The last third was hastily written, kindly point out any mistakes that you can. Peace!


	10. wild child

**Strange Kismet**

_Chapter Ten: Wild Child_

* * *

"Ouch! Damn!"

Shizune rarely swore. She only did so when she was extremely upset, especially if she was angry.

Right now, she was angry.

She was angry that she'd given up her life in Konohagakure to follow around a woman who gambled away all of her assets - and Shizune's – and treated her like an assistant at best and a slave at worst. She was angry that said woman had stumbled away in a drunken stupor and expected Shizune to come and bail her out of whatever it was she had gotten herself into. She was angry at herself for believing that traveling with this woman would somehow give her beloved uncle some peace from beyond the grave! What did a little girl know about any of that, anyway - ?!

"Tsunade-sama! Tsu-na-de-samaaaa! I'm cold, and tired, and hungry. And I'm sure that you are too! Why don't you just tell me where you are so we can both go home?"

Home… ha. Home was their latest hotel room. She grimaced as the bush to her left scraped her cheek so hard she felt it break skin. In a few short seconds she healed it. Tsunade was absolutely useless if she saw blood. And if she saw that little cut, Shizune would literally be dragging her back to the hotel. The hemophobic ex-med nin was heavier than she looked, and that was not an experience that she desired to repeat…

Finally she escaped the bramble that had been tugging at her everywhere. Her face brightened when she saw the hint of a figure kneeling in the grass at the entrance to an orchard, and as she ran closer she realized that it was her long-sought teacher.

"Tsunade-sama! Tsu – na…"

It was an orchard drenched in blood.

Twelve men were strewn about in various states of death and near-death. The bark of all the trees was stained dark, some more than others; one man had been lucky enough to escape with a mere slit throat. Limbs were twisted backward at impossible angles. One face was collapsed in completely, gore hanging down from the edge of the gaping hole that had been a person just a short while ago. Shizune was frozen in place, her sandals soaking up the red liquid on the ground.

In the middle of it all was a girl – a humanoid. Something masquerading as human, because no human child would have that look of utter, vengeful pleasure on her face - eyes closed in bliss - at the sight of a dozen dismembered men surrounding her. Tsunade was trembling violently, her eyes locked on the girl-thing. It turned to face them fully, a little giggle escaping the red-flecked lips. Then, the eyes opened.

One was an empty brown hole, the skin inside long dead. Just a _child –_

The other was the color of pitch, no whites, totally dark as an abyss, black, black as the darkest corner of her heart, the part that took bitter glee in Tsunade's depression because she killed her uncle, so black that for Shizune it was sucking her in with its intensity. The evil that radiated from the thing took every lustful want, every vengeful desire, every little resentful action she had wanted to take in the course of her life and magnified, intensified it, until all she could feel was the temptation to do every bad thing she had ever wanted, _ever_.

She was frozen in place like her mentor, nearly convulsing with the effort to hold herself back. Back from leaving this place, leaving Tsunade, and doing whatever the hell crossed her mind with no thought to morals or consequences.

Her eyes still locked on the on the abyss, Shizune watched as the dark bled away into a deep royal purple that got lighter and shrank until it was pale, dusty lavender in the shape of a slightly overlarge iris. The urge slowly – _very _slowly – ebbed, leaving her sore and cold, with a sheen of sweat on her skin. The girl-thing was staring at her, but this time it was different. Now it was more like an actual child, one that was trembling and suddenly crying, and then collapsing onto the ground after a good vomit and harder sobs. It must have been a long time, but it felt like just minutes when she finally passed out. The air was colder now, nipping at the Shizune, the last one standing.

This girl… what was wrong with this girl…?

* * *

After dragging her mentor off, away from the carnage, Shizune raced back to the clearing to collect the girl. Something made the young medic want to help her. She was suffering from something that had been imposed upon her, that much was obvious. No child deserved to suffer under a curse like the one this girl did. _This girl. _It was a girl, she acknowledged, not a thing or a monster, but a little girl who had been possessed by something otherworldly. And evil.

She lined up all the bodies in a pile, shuddering as she did so. When she left Konoha, she was a little girl, only a ninja in training; and now, traveling around with a hemophobe like Tsunade, seeing dead bodies was a rare occurrence. Dealing with corpses, touching them, piling them up was something to which she was not at all accustomed. But she did so anyway. Gathered the twelve men and their collective parts into a pile and soaked them with flammable poison so that they would burn easier. She stepped back and waited for the flames to die down, so that she knew they would not spread to the surrounding trees, all the while ignoring the pungent scent of charred human. Then Shizune went over to the girl and cleaned her up, removing most of all her clothing except for the things which kept her modesty intact. She suppressed a shudder as she caught a whiff of the mottled, stained-dark rags that had covered the small body and made sure all of her skin was free of blood – because if Tsunade saw that they would be out in this orchard all night, and the bugs were already biting. She slapped a mosquito idly as this thought crossed her mind.

Tsunade, who had finally snapped out of her stupor, eyed the small form hefted over Shizune's shoulders suspiciously.

"I hope you're going to put that in the woods somewhere."

"Of course not, Tsunade-sama. I'm taking her with us."

There was a brief period of stunned silence. Then:

"You're bringing that thing back with us?!" Tsunade said in the angriest whisper she could muster. "You are giving this monster shelter? What are you_ thinking_?! It'll gut us in our sleep!"

"You didn't see what I saw," Shizune countered firmly. "There is something wrong with her. She's just a child, and she needs help –"

"We're not a goddamn charity!"

"Look, I know you hate having me around! I know you didn't even want me to come with you! I know that often I've been a burden to you, made you angry, kept the saké away from you, and generally tried to keep you on the straight and narrow. But please, _please_ let me do this one thing. Please let me help this child… and please, help me."

The buxom blonde stared in utter shock into the solemn, pleading, and determined face of her one and only student. She tried to tell herself that her resolve was slipping only because she shared her intense grey eyes with her deceased uncle. But a part of her – a very small, very quiet, nearly dead part – acknowledged that Shizune was someone precious to her. Did she really think she was such a burden – for all of these years…? What kind of person would stick around somebody they had such a negative experience with?

Shizune would, because Shizune cared about her. She gave a damn. It was a rare thing in this age and time.

Tsunade broke eye contact. "Fine. But she'll have to work for her keep, dammit. I'm not gonna have some little brat leech off me – I've already experienced that more than I care to remember," she said bitingly, taunting Shizune, waiting for those grey eyes to flash with anger. She was mad that someone had awoken those feelings she thought long dead in her heart.

But her student didn't rise to the bait. She'd taught her better, thought the Sannin with a small and rueful smile. Instead of responding with anger to the insult, she smiled with contentment and thanked Tsunade in the sincerest manner.

"Obviously, you'll be up watching her tonight. To make sure that she doesn't actually kill us in our sleep, I mean."

The younger woman paled. An all-nighter after a day like she'd just had! But she knew from the look on her mentor's face that this was a test. How much did she want to do this?

"O…of course Tsunade-sama…"

"Good! Well, have a fun night!"

* * *

Tsunade was not at all surprised to see Shizune asleep, slumped against the wall by the little girl. But she was equally surprised to see the girl huddled in the corner against the wall, body tense and her single eye wide open. When she noticed that one of the two was awake, she tensed even further and froze in that position, as prey would in the den of a predator, totally paralyzed by the presence of the women. Tsunade raised her eyebrow in question; truly, this girl was not at all the demon she'd seen yesterday. Possessed by an unrefined but equally twisted version of the perversion that had claimed one of the Sannin.

She brushed that thought away and rose from her futon brusquely. If it was physically possible, the girl shrank away from her further.

"What's all this? Last night you were slitting the throats of grown men without a care, and this morning you're cowering away from the first person you see?" Tsunade clicked her tongue in disapproval, but her hawk eyes caught the brief flicker of despair in her expression. "Well I don't really give a damn. I'm a doctor, and you're getting a checkup whether you like it or not."

Just from looking at the girl, it was a simple matter to see her malnutrition. Tsunade followed the lumps in her skin – protruding bone – with a clinical eye; the skin was stretched and cracked and mottled in some places; the matted mess of darkness on her head would be more aptly called fur, and even that was a stretch, considering the volume of it. She could have been anywhere from seven to twelve years – how badly the malnutrition had stunted her growth had yet to be seen.

"A work in progress," Tsunade muttered to herself. "But first things first. You are in sore need of a haircut, a new change of clothes, and –" The Sannin fought back the gag reflex that was triggered by the young girl's stench. "A bath. A good, long one."

It was like the girl didn't even register the words as being non-threatening. Apparently Tsunade's height and the severe look on her face was enough to convince the (deaf-mute?) child that whatever she was going to do was bad.

Shizune was still out cold. She was on her own.

* * *

"AAH!"

Shizune woke to the sounds of screaming. Rubbing the sleep away from her eye, she twisted around to look at their new arrival. She froze in her futon.

"KYAAA! Tsunade-sama, she's gone!"

The sounds of splashing, a squeal bordering on bestial – what was her mentor _doing _in there - ?!

"You little – argh! I can't believe I'm doing this for you!"

"Tsu…na…de?"

Tsunade, granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage and grandniece to the Nidaime, formerly under the guidance of the Sandaime, a legendary ninja in her own right who could liquidate a man's insides with a mere poke. Tsunade, the babysitter. Shizune tried – and failed – to hide her huge grin behind her hand.

The amazing Tsunade was covered with water and soap bubbles, and, if one were to judge by the look of extreme vexation on her face, was not very pleased by that fact. It was obviously the most extreme act of will that kept her from storming out of the room and away from a barely-human child. What was amazing in itself was that she had not already thrown a hissy fit and stormed out of the room.

"Do you need any help, Tsunade-sama?" asked Shizune sweetly.

"This is all your fault!" A steady stream of expletives forced its way past Tsunade's lips with little effort as she stormed out of the bathroom, angrily yanking a towel from the rack on the way out.

"Don't worry, I'm a softer touch," said Shizune with a quiet smile. The girl looked up at her through a wet mop of hair that clung to her forehead. Her underfed, waifish body was shivering in the slowly-cooling water, and she had pulled her knees up to her chest in a defensive maneuver. She was a completely different being from last night's eager slaughterer. Shizune lathered her hands with shampoo and leaned forward, gentle but insistent. Soon the girl no longer shied away from human touch; instead, she was stock-still, refusing to move and inch, but not cringing away either.

Tsunade grew impatient and after twenty minutes called out to them imperiously. "Well? This is ­my bathroom, are you ever going to be done in there?"

"A few more minutes, Tsunade-sama. And get a pair of scissors ready."

"Hmph! I'm not a servant…" she mumbled half-heartedly, stomping away from the bathroom door with all the grace of a five year old. Nevertheless, she dug through their things for a pair of scissors – not hard to find in a doctor's bags, even an inactive one like she – and soon unearthed a pair.

Finally they emerged. Tsunade quickly turned around and crossed her arms, not wanting to appear as if she had been waiting impatiently. But she couldn't resist the urge to look at the girl once she caught a glimpse out of the corner of her eye. She stared.

Under the grime there was a human being – a cute little girl. Her skin was free from the coat of weeks-old dust and dirt, and though it didn't have the healthy glow of regular children, it did not look like the hide of a foreign creature anymore. Except for the random, cleanly healing scars – from medical instruments and procedures, Shizune had assumed – her skin was essentially unbroken, a pretty, pale porcelain. Her hair, once a matted mess, was now in a more controllable, dark curtain; still tangled, but not a nest suitable for birds anymore.

Her look was now appraising.

"Yes, haircut first," she murmured, slipping into medic mode against her will. "Then we'll have to go hunting – my special hyper-vitamin mix doesn't just grow on trees, after all – lots of liquids until she's adjusted to regular, healthy consumption of food – I'd estimate a week until solid food would be suitable – and shopping – yes, you will definitely need clothes – well, come on, Shizune, we've got work to do!"

They wrapped her in one of Shizune's old robes that was far too small for her now, and ripped off the bottom because it was dragging on the ground. The haircut was next; her hair, falling to her hips, was cut down to brush past her shoulders. Bangs were also trimmed in the front that feathered around her face, framing it prettily once it was blown dry. The hair in front of her empty eye socket was left shaggier than the other side, so as not to give attention to it. They also covered the socket with medicinal tape. Throughout all of this, the girl was silent and complacent.

They gave her a pair of old sandals that flapped on the ground loudly as she walked; they were several sizes too big for her tiny feet. She didn't seem to care though; now that they didn't have as much physical contact with her, the girl had calmed a great deal, reverting to a quiet and submissive state that made both of her companions want to frown.

"Do you have a name, girl?" Tsunade asked her as the three of them walked down the street. She turned her head up to Tsunade, and nodded once.

"Can you talk?"

A nod, again. Then the girl paused, as if steeling herself for what she was about to do.

"H…Hin…Hina-a-ta," she forced out, struggling with her voice as if it fought against her. Then she started to cough violently, as if that one little action had caused her immense pain.

"Hinata-chan, a lovely name," said Shizune as they stopped and waited for her to regain her breath, patting her back. Then she glanced at her teacher and mentor. Tsunade nodded gravely.

Before their departure, Tsunade had been close with a woman named Hyuuga Kimiko. One of her most promising medical students, the girl had been forced to discontinue her studies after her marriage to the Hyuuga heir, Hiashi. They had managed to remain in decent contact even after her schooling had ceased, and then even after Tsunade had left the village. The letters had stopped altogether six or seven years ago – Tsunade had grimly factored in Hiashi's influence once again, or at least the clan elders - but not before Kimiko had revealed the name of her eldest daughter. Hinata.

Was this broken child really the daughter of her dear friend? It seemed – surreal. Kimiko's will of steel and heart of gold, though often disguised by her quiet nature and regal bearing, had always been alive and well. There was no way that she would allow this to happen to her daughter. So that was it. Kimiko was dead. The thought of such a lovely and understanding woman dying, one that she knew and cared deeply about, recalled that heavy, asphyxiating weight that materialized onto her chest every time somebody she knew and loved died. There was a time when that suffocating feeling had surrounded her constantly –

Tsunade stiffened her lips and forced her memories away; this stupid girl…!

But one look into her waifish face forbade all violence, verbal or otherwise, against her, despite the fact that she reminded Tsunade of everything she was running away from. That was the face of a child in a need – a _patient_ in need – and more importantly, the face of her dear friend's daughter.

"Rest with all the peace you deserve, Kimi-chan," she murmured, the tremor in her voice barely there. Shizune caught it, and was still, holding her breath.

There was a certain tension now, one that Tsunade had created with her invocation to the dead. It vanished in a second when Hinata looked up at her – the face of Kimiko's present and future, the way in which she could live on. One pitiful gaze from that big moon-eye soothed this new hurt with such ease…

Shizune watched her mentor's eyes soften as she looked at Hinata, and instantly knew that the girl had a protector for life. However, Tsunade seemed to sense that she was being observed, and broke the moment with a glare at her student.

"What're _you_ grinning for, Shizune? C'mon little one, I see a clothing store over there!"

* * *

Shizune was positively gleeful.

Not once in the entire day had Tsunade even mentioned gambling or alcohol. She was so wrapped up in catering to this girl's every whim that any thought of herself seemed to have vanished. It was a bizarre (though definitely not unwelcome) phenomenon.

Now Hinata was outfitted with a plain black undersuit and a silvery tunic – and a pair of sandals that fit her. They had also gone shopping for medical supplies and certain vitamins that would be beneficial to a growing child. It was a slow but steady process, but the girl was opening up just as Tsunade was; they even managed to get a genuine, fluttering smile out of her when they bought her a treat – a large, sticky cinnamon bun.

The only damper in the day was when they had been helping Hinata try on some clothes. There were unmistakable markings all around her body, marks of special experimentation. And worst of all –

"_His_ seal," muttered Tsunade with fire in her eyes.

"His? You can't mean –"

"Orochimaru. Yes. This is his work – a different shape, perhaps, but unmistakably the work of that – that – grrr!" Tsunade had clenched her fist, barely stopping herself from decimating a nearby clothing display, and likely half of the store, given her strength.

Hinata had been trembling uncontrollably, hunching in on herself and staring up at them as if waiting for the killing blow.

"My dear, we are not going to throw you out," said Tsunade in whisper, trying not to attract attention from the tetchy store owner. He was looking over at them suspiciously.

"We only want to help you," added Shizune in earnest. "Please, trust us."

Hinata had nodded slowly, barely daring to hope, and then pulled the tunic on, letting Shizune tie it for her in the back.

That event had signaled an increased tenderness toward the girl, given that she had been the victim of such a man, and an increased trust between the girl and her two overseers because they did not shun her.

Their first day together had been exhausting, and by the time evening came, Hinata was yawning and rubbing her eye as they scaled the stairs to the hotel room.

"Ah! Not yet you don't. Drink this," Tsunade commanded, seeming to pull a glass out of nowhere that was filled with a nasty-looking, grayish liquid. Hinata shrank back a bit.

"I know it looks disgusting – tastes like it too - but it's good for you," Shizune said softly, laying a hand on her head. With trembling hands, Hinata took the glass from Tsunade and, in what seemed like an age, slowly raised it to her mouth. The second she tasted it, all of the tension left her body, and she drank it down without a protest or the puckered look that most of Tsunade's other patients had worn whenever they drank it.

"You… you like the taste?"

She gave them her second smile of the day, and shook her head in the negative. Then she yawned again, and before they knew it, she was slumped on the floor, breathing heavily. Tsunade moaned in despair.

"What have I gotten myself into…"

* * *

The next month passed in a blur for the Slug Sannin, but for once this blur was not the result of an alcohol-induced haze. She was busy with _work_. Usually this prospect would have terrified or revolted her, but now she was absorbed in accomplishing something like she hadn't been in years.

It was the work of that one month that opened Hinata further to trusting them. They gave her an official physical exam, and let her run around until she was tired to test her limits. Days were spent in physical activity, while the afternoons were spent teaching her basic ninja tenets. It was a slow and steady process, but one that they knew was necessary if they wanted her to heal completely. If she did not trust them, she would not be receptive to treatment.

One of the first steps in giving Hinata the most complete diagnosis was finding the best medical facilities available (barring Konoha – that was still absolutely off-limits in Tsunade's mind – in her heart.) She knew that the only treatment facilities that came to a close second to Konoha were in River country. River was not technically an ally of Konoha, but they weren't an enemy, either; and there had been times when she was younger when they had requested her medical expertise. She had always been too busy – sometimes with her personal life, but usually with some war or another. Could their request have extended all these years?

Tsunade wrote to the Kawa no Daimyo – the leader of Kawa no Kuni – through a courier service in the town in which they were staying the very night after they had taken Hinata shopping. In western Fire Country, where they were, the letter would take approximately two days to the reach the capital. She expected an answer within a week.

To her great surprise, one and half days later an entire entourage entered the quaint village in which they had been staying, looking exhausted but extremely pleased at themselves.

"Lady Tsunade!" yelled one man, breathing irregularly. Tsunade raised her eyebrow delicately, staring with slight disdain at the state of the party. The one who spoke was clearly the leader of the group; though a little blustery and pompous, he seemed good-natured overall. He swung his thick, longish blonde hair over one shoulder. "It is pleasure to finally meet you – My name is Morimoto Takeda, and I am here to discuss the particulars of our deal with you!"

It was surprisingly enjoyable to exercise her diplomatic expertise again. In the end, the bargain had been resolved like this: for one day, Tsunade would act as medical advisor (very strictly hands off) to the Kawa specialists; for the next week after, she would enjoy unrestricted access to all of their state-of-the-art facilities.

"Exciting, isn't it?" Tsunade said to Shizune with a large grin. The younger woman hid her own smile under the guise of a cough and looked away. She knew her mentor would not take kindly to that smile, and she might turn back out of sheer stubbornness.

They arrived at the capital of Kawa no Kuni, Kasui, in two and a half days, after having stayed in two of the best hotels the country had to offer each night. Tsunade was greeted with much fanfare by the daimyo himself, a gaggle of medics staring at her with hero worship. They were quickly invited to stay in the daimyo's palace.

"Not bad, eh?" The grin felt permanently affixed to her face.

"Not at all bad, Tsunade-sama," said Shizune wryly, glancing around the interior of Tsunade's quarters, joined to hers by large double doors. Hinata hung around her knees, never going too far from either woman, especially in an environment so strange to her. All of the finery was disconcerting.

The next morning was a busy one. Tsunade got up early for the first time in a long time and departed downstairs from her lavish quarters; what seemed to be the entire medical staff of Kawa General – though she knew that was impossible – had appeared, situated around the huge dining table. The high-ranking officials received actual seats, but others were crowded behind those sitting down, some easily young enough to be students. After a sumptuous breakfast – during which she absolutely refused to be disturbed – she calmly raised her eyes and welcomed the flood.

It was a day spent engaging the parts of her brain she had abandoned so long ago. Mentally stimulating, new and familiar at the same time. It was wonderful to be recognized for her medical expertise instead of her gambling failures; whereas a man in a seedy casino would snicker at her, waiting to take her money and ogling her at the same time, any one of the men or women – though mostly men, she noted with chagrin – in _this _room looked at her with respect and even reverence, hanging onto her every word. One of the younger ones had even asked for an autograph.

It was an ego-stroking day, she reflected afterward. But it hadn't been until she was lying in bed, exhausted but more content than she could remember being in a long time, that she realized how much she had needed such a day.

* * *

The tests were difficult to conduct.

This was not because they did not have any assistance with the complex machinery, or because Shizune and Tsunade were incompetent; they encountered no resistance in performing the tests from the staff, or from the government reneging on their deal.

Hinata was the reason it became such a difficult situation. During her first steps into the white, sterile medical facility, her pace slowed until she was walking behind the other two. Three steps later she halted completely. Tsunade and Shizune looked back in surprise.

"Hinata-chan…?"

It was the same wide-eyed, terrified look she had sported in the dressing room when they had discovered Orochimaru's mark, and the scars resulting from his experimentations…

And in an instant Tsunade knew exactly what was wrong. This place reminded Hinata of her experiences with _him – _it was like being back in that place all over again, about to go under the knife not to heal, but to inflict pain for the sake of his progress…

It was another hour before they could get her inside the first room with many hushed words and promises of her safety and their trustworthiness. Shizune held her hand constantly, and the trembling never stopped.

Every day of the following five days proceeded in this way; they would try to get the testing done as quickly and painlessly as possible, and as soon as Hinata reached her breaking point, Shizune would take her out around the city until her cheeks regained a little color and the trembling finally subsided. Tsunade stayed behind to analyze the test results. The only day on which this differed was when they performed the blood test, which had been Shizune's responsibility to perform and evaluate. On the sixth day, Hinata's condition became so stressed that her eye began to darken, and the seal on her neck pulsed. That had signaled the end of the testing.

On the seventh morning, Tsunade went by herself to the medical facility and stayed the entire day, culminating the many tests into one final conclusion. She walked back to the daimyo's palace with a heavy heart. Shizune was waiting for her patiently. Hinata stared up at the blonde, easily two and half times her height, with one wide eye.

"Here's what I have found." She passed a manila folder to Shizune who opened it immediately and began perusing its contents with concentration and avid interest.

"Hinata-chan's chakra passageways are enlarged tremendously for someone of her age, gender, and build. As I believe you know, this was done in order to make her body a more feasible candidate for that seal. Her chakra coils are very sensitive because of the way in which they were enlarged – that is, not by a natural process of building up taijutsu skills which increase the amount of chakra one has and thus slowly make increase their circumference, but by having physically forced chakra through her passageways at regular intervals – by week or by month, maybe. That's why her passageways are so sensitive – tender even. It's unnatural for them to be the size they are. Furthermore, _his_ chakra has fully infiltrated her system. It's like a coating around her chakra coils. Something like a slow-acting poison or agent.

"On another point, I think that the – ah – side of Hinata that we saw on the night we first met her must be a result of those tortures that he put her through in order to make her body viable for the seal."

Shizune stared up at her mentor with wide eyes. "So it's like – an alternate personality? One that her mind created to deal with the pain? That girl was not at all like Hinata-chan… so bloodthirsty, vicious… it makes sense that she is the result of his experimentation." She flipped through the file until she reached one of the last pages and nodded. "Then that was the unusual reading that was picked up during the brain scan."

"Yes, very astute. Worthy of the title of Tsunade's apprentice." She smiled before hesitating briefly, as if deciding if Shizune was up to hearing what she had to say. "I know that the official details of that investigation were classified, but let's just say Mitarashi went through a lot of shit. She was older than Hinata, and a lot more tough, and it messed her up. It's the kind of psychological abuse that affects a person on a daily basis. Imagine doing what he did to Anko to a child only a quarter of her age…"

"Oh," said Shizune with a slight quiver in her voice. Her eyes were big and glassy as she turned to the silent Hinata, who did not look up from the floor. "Oh…"

"Well!" Tsunade interrupted loudly. "Hinata-chan, come with me, I'm going to prepare your vitamin mix! It still tastes awful, I promise…"

* * *

From diagnosing the problem, it was now time find a solution to Hinata's rather unique situation.

Tsunade knew that any long term help would need to be conducted in a facility similar to the one she had used for the past week. However, she also knew that her legal contract with River Country had expired the day previous, and as such she could impose on them no longer.

All of Konoha's other alliances were far too tenuous to test her requests without the help of Sarutobi, or at the cost of inciting a war. And the random fiefdom that might accept her heritage and her reputation were all in war-torn territories, or ones that were about to be war-torn. Besides, as with the facility in River Country, she would risk exposing the Hyuuga bloodline limit – something that she had found to be tied intrinsically to the seal and to _his_ chakra in her body – to outsiders. Definitely a no-no, as that was something that could earn her lifelong imprisonment or public execution.

If Tsunade wanted Hinata's healing to be complete, it was imperative to return –

No. After all this time! Her heart still hurt. The presence of Hinata and the knowledge that she was caring for the child of her dear friend could only dull the pain in her heart so much before even that ran thin, powerful as it was to have Tsunade go so far out of her way.

So she took the easy way out. If she couldn't heal the problem directly, she would stall it. It was her only option, she thought to herself, ignoring the prickle of guilt as she gazed at the sleeping Hinata on their way back to Hi no Kuni. Really, she had no other choice. Really.

So the issue at hand was how best to stall the problem.

The most alarming part of Hinata's many abnormalities was her alternate personality – cruel and sadistic, it not only posed a threat to those around Hinata, but to the girl herself. The so-called "Dark Hinata" was a forceful and dominating persona, one that they had found was kept back only through Hinata's sheer will. Though they hadn't seen Dark Hinata since that night, Tsunade had her suspicious that the personality change was triggered either by large amounts of stress – evidence of that was in Hinata's reaction to the sixth day of testing – or by Orochimaru's chakra flowing especially strong through her, which was essentially the same thing.

During the testing, they had found several concentrated points of chakra, tiny glands that Orochimaru had created that were triggered by emotional and physical stress. Put enough pressure on her, push her just a little bit, and she was sure to snap. It was ingenious, really. Tsunade admitted grudging admiration for the intricacy of the work, but she had never understood how the man she had known so well could justify doing this to a child. To this child in particular. Hinata so obviously hated violence that she admitted to living as far from civilization as possible, so as to avoid any form of stressor. That had explained her wild appearance, and her total inability to interact with most humans correctly or at all.

Once again, the best solution lay in Konoha. But unlike the top-of-the-line medical facilities in her hometown, this was much smaller in magnitude. It could easily be shipped to a location of her own choosing. Her next letter would be to the only man of his trade who ever got her business: Tengfei.

* * *

"She sent a letter to _who_?"

"Tengfei the Terrible, sir. The blacksmith." The older woman looked at her Hokage strangely; Certainly he had not forgotten Tengei the Terrible, an infamous and feared ninja the Second Great Ninja War? The Sandaime had fought in that war, it seemed impossible for him to forget someone like Tengfei.

Hiruzen looked absolutely mystified. "Tengfei. Of all the people to write home for, him? Why? What is she doing? What does she need from him?"

His curiosity was overwhelming… He had not heard from his student directly in nearly a decade now, but he always kept himself aware of her comings and goings as much as he could. Sarutobi knew that essentially all communication between Tsunade and anybody in Konoha was nil. He hadn't heard any differently in the past eight years. What was driving her? Her hemophobia would prevent her from buying anything that could draw blood, so what business could she have with a blacksmith infamous for his ninja weaponry?

"Oh, and sir?"

"Mm, Nokomi-san?" he mumbled to his secretary distractedly, fingers laced together as he stared off into space.

"You recently received a letter from the daimyo of Kawa no Kuni. Would you like to read it now?"

"No, no, perhaps later. That will be all for now, Nokomi-san. Thank you."

* * *

Not a good ending, in my opinion. I have more written – I was going to continue this chapter, but I really wanted to get this up and it was taking forever to be written…so the flashback shall conclude next chapter. Grrr. But now you have an update, right?

Anyway. If you see any mistakes, or have any suggestions, please let me know. I know I need the criticism. ^_^


	11. UPDATE: reboot

Hey guys.

This is the end of the line for Strange Kismet. It's been awesome, and I can't tell you how great it is that I still get follows/favorites/review on this story, especially considering the last update was July 2009. I'm leaving it up as is, partially because I'm sentimental, and partially because all that support is the reason I didn't give up on this story.

And so, if you're not ready to say goodbye, you can check out _Team Alpha_, which I have just published a few minutes ago. It's basically a reboot of this story, which I'm pretty confident in saying is much better than this version. It might take a while to show up on the site, but I swear, it's a real thing.

thanks for reading this story. You guys are DA and don't let anybody tell you otherwise.

Cheers,

MissW


End file.
